Latinate

American  

[lat-n-eyt] / ˈlæt nˌeɪt /

adjective

1. of, like, pertaining to, or derived from Latin.

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Latinate British  

/ ˈlætɪˌneɪt /

adjective

1. (of writing, vocabulary, etc) imitative of or derived from Latin

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Etymology

Origin of Latinate

First recorded in 1900–05; Latin + -ate ¹

Explanation

Use the adjective latinate to describe languages, words, or phrases that are derived from Latin. Languages that descended directly from Latin, like Spanish, French, and Italian, are latinate. Although English is not one of these latinate languages, many English words, from auxiliary to vulnerable have a latinate derivation. You might also use fake words that only resemble Latin, with the latinate filler text known as "Lorem Ipsum" that's used to design a layout where future information will be printed.

Example Sentences

The Latinate reference deliberately invokes the transformative 1891 encyclical, “Rerum Novarum,” from his predecessor and namesake, Pope Leo XIII, which oriented the church toward the challenges of industrial society and its consequences.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

But the Latinate words that the dance brings to mind are the ones that start with “circum,” or ”around.”

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2024

In the Huntington’s gardens, she helped revise labels for plants connected to Indigenous knowledge — on each, indicating their Indigenous, Spanish, English and scientific Latinate names.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2022

For example, translations from Spanish might sound really flowery, because Spanish has a Latinate vocabulary and Latinate words are flowery in English, even though they’re not in Spanish—they’re just the words.

From Slate • Feb. 1, 2021

Within the “symphony of voices,” Kepler believed that the speed of each planet corresponds to certain notes in the Latinate musical scale popular in his day—do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan