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If you wanted to translate the sentence, "I want to leave the room", from English to Latin, how would you do it?

I'm not sure which words to choose for "leave" and "room". I made a few guesses as to each. For "leave", I entertained exeo and discedo, but then I realized the first is intransitive, and the second might be too. For "room", I found the word cubiculum, but then I realized it only means bedroom. Instead, I'm looking for a word which describes any generic room inside a house.

Thus, I'm only sure of the first word I would like to use.

Volo _______ _______

Appreciate any feedback!

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  • Cubiculum can indeed mean any room, but it most commonly refers to the bedroom. You might say e cubiculo exire volo.
    – Anonym
    Dec 25, 2016 at 7:05
  • It might help if the context suggests some reason for wanting to leave the room (e.g. to relieve yourself, or to consult your lawyer), or says something about the nature of the room you are wanting to leave.
    – Michael Kay
    Jan 10 at 15:08

2 Answers 2

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I would prefer to put volo in the end. Intransitivity is no problem; you can say ex hac re exeo. You can use a preposition even when the verb has a prefix.

I think exeo is good, but the choice depends on the intended nuance. If you want to walk out, I suggest egredior.

There are many words for a room, and again more context would determine the optimal choice. My typical choice for a generic room is conclave.

I suggest thus:

E conclavi egredi volo.

I'm not sure if the ablative should be conclavi or conclave.

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  • Thanks! I think you are right about conclavi. I just learned that 3rd declension i-stem neuters have -i for the ablative. Do you think that conclave, conclavis would best describe a living room?
    – ktm5124
    Dec 25, 2016 at 17:03
  • @ktm5124 The more I think of it, the more important it seems to ask a separate question about translating "living room" to Latin. (I think I'll ask it soon, but I don't mind at all if you make it before me.) It's complicated, and many words have their pros: atrium, conclave, cella, habitatio, aula... There is a sense of "something that can be locked up" in con-clave, but that might still be my word of choice. If the living room is larger, I would go with aula.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta ♦
    Dec 25, 2016 at 18:58
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    That list of possibilities is quite helpful. I would be interested in finding the optimal choice. Maybe it does deserve a separate question. After all, it would be easier for someone to find the word for living room if it had its own question - it would be more searchable.
    – ktm5124
    Dec 25, 2016 at 19:03
  • @ktm5124 I asked the question.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta ♦
    Dec 27, 2016 at 21:25
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There are several words for 'room', depending on size, purpose and location, but the most familiar is cella, though it's mostly a smaller and more personal place than the others. To leave a room, the usual verb is excedo, followed by an accusative.

Cellam excedere volo would be all right.

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  • I like this answer best, although the others work well too. One word I don't see mentioned yet is abire. That's usually my goto word for translating "leave"
    – Figulus
    Jan 20, 2019 at 22:16

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