Questions tagged [medieval-latin]

Questions regarding the Latin of the Medieval period, approximately 500–1400

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"Ghost", as in the noun

I would like to know how to say "Ghost" properly, as in I am a ghost. All I have been able to find is "Mares";"Marium";"Spectare"...etc. I would prefer if ...
PunKn303's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
885 views

"Inter canem et lupum" in a Latin text?

A search for infra horam vespertinam, inter canem et lupum finds lots of blog posts (and dictionaries!) citing this Latin proverb as the ancestor of French entre chien et loup. (Meaning the evening, ...
Simon Branch's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
80 views

Could you please translate below Latin?

Translating this sentence to English. Ipso die hoc idem donum confirmavit apud Saratam et filius ejus, Eubalus, laudavit; nec non et uxor ejus, Jordana, in manu Guidonis, prioris. Could someone please ...
Robert Koller's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
326 views

Why does Merriam-Webster define DE BENE ESSE as "morally acceptable", "subject to legal validation", "subject to future exception"?

I looked up de, bene, and esse individually in several online Latin dictionaries. But none of de, bene or esse means, or relates to, any of the 3 meanings contended by Merriam-Webster boldfaced below! ...
user13772's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
462 views

Meaning of exterminare in XIII-century ecclesiastical latin

I want to know the most probable meaning of "exterminare" in this passage from canon 3 of the Lateran IV Ecumenical Council of 1215 [1] [2], specifically whether it is "kill" or &...
Johannes's user avatar
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8 votes
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How is Conradus de Mure's Latin poem on parchment-making to be understood?

In a few different sources, I have found this poem on parchment-making attributed to Conradus de Mure. It is mostly intelligible, but several parts are obscure to me, either because of the language or ...
Kingshorsey's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
229 views

"Tune commodum ducis meæ adhuc confabulationi vacare"

I am having some trouble understanding the first line of Abraham (a medieval play by Hrotsvitha). Tune, frater et coeremita Ephrem, commodum ducis meæ adhuc confabulationi vacare, an quoad usque ...
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6 votes
1 answer
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A visit to the Perth Charterhouse in 1543: help with translation

This is an account of the visitation of the Perth Charterhouse in 1543, with my attempted translation below. I have highlighted the part of which I am most uncertain, but there are several other ...
user558840's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
113 views

Beginning a letter in latin--what were common conventions [duplicate]

In the USA, it is customary to begin a letter with "Dear" and the name of the recipient. E.g., "Dear Dr. Smith" or "Dear Alex". Was there a similar convention for the ...
Josh's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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How to properly translate "Great Evil" into medieval Latin?

I've recently started on developing my own gaming project. Some of the words, proper nouns in particular, are planned to get translated into medieval Latin. The problem is that I'm not native speaker ...
GrandeMalum's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
299 views

Best conjugation for memento vivere or viveri

Memento vivere or viveri, as a complementary phrase (not necessary an opposite) to memento mori?
user11680's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
81 views

Accusative for dative with "latere" in Medieval Latin?

Accusative for dative with "latere" in Medieval Latin? From: Dolopathos sive de rege et septem sapientibus of Joannes of Alta Silva (c. 1200); in "A Primer of Medieval Latin" by ...
Stephen Bryant's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
271 views

What is a correct English-to-(Medieval?) Latin translation of the Grail Tablet in "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade"?

This is my first, and probably only, question on here (I usually hang out on SciFi/Fantasy), so I apologize if I've done it incorrectly or if it's not considered on-topic, but I've wanted to know for ...
SpaceWolf1701's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
285 views

Usage of passive in Summa Theologiae

This may be a simple question or may be answered elsewhere already, but I’m curious about the usage of the passive in the following simple sentence from Aquinas: “Ad secundum sic proceditur” He re-...
Chris Loonam's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
45 views

How would you latinized (medieval latin) the following surname "de Campenhout"

I am currently writing a novel and would like to use a latinized version of the de germanic/Frankish surname "de Campenhout" Any help would be appreciated.
W. J. de Campenhout's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
44 views

Case Analysis - which of two potential alternatives is correct?

I have several sentences from c1700 of the form: Ad hanc Curiam venit Johannes unus Tenentium Custumariorum hujus Manerii qui tenuit sibi pro termino vitæ suæ naturalis per Copiam Curiae Rotuli gerens ...
user3588542's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
819 views

Were there ever gerunds for posse and esse?

As Figulus stated in a recent answer: But passive infinitives are not the only infinitives which lack a gerund. Posse and esse also lack a gerund, and that brings to my mind the neo-Latin expression, ...
Draconis's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
264 views

Use of accusative with operari in Opticae Thesaurus

In al-Haytham's Opticae Thesaurus, the following sentence (discussing what the first book will describe) confuses me: Primum est quod lux per se et colores illuminati operentur in visum aliquam ...
Sam Gallagher's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
713 views

"Audi nos" translation problem

Commonly, Audi nos is translated as "hear us". Audi is the imperative form of the verb but nos is ordinarily translated as "we". How does "we" become "us"? Is ...
Michael McConville's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
139 views

Difference between erga and quoad?

In medieval Latin, is there a difference between erga and quoad? They both seem to mean "with respect to".
Geremia's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Aristotle Metaphysics - questions on syntax

Metaphysics, 994b7-9: ἅμα δὲ καὶ ἀδύνατον τὸ πρῶτον ἀΐδιον ὂν φθαρῆναι: ἐπεὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἄπειρος ἡ γένεσις ἐπὶ τὸ ἄνω, ἀνάγκη ἐξ οὗ φθαρέντος πρώτου τι ἐγένετο μὴ ἀΐδιον εἶναι. Latin translation: Simul ...
Ali Nikzad's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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Corrections/review of a verse translation

I'm translating a Tennyson verse (Sir Galahad) and had it went over by a couple of folks with some corrections. I would like you guys to give it a final pass if you would be so kind. I searched and ...
user10936's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
25 views

Need help translating some sentences from Johannes Oecolampadius [closed]

This is my first time posting here, so if my request is inappropriate or unwelcome, I apologize! I recently completed a draft of a previously untranslated discourse by Johannes Oecolampadius on the ...
snemes2's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
0 answers
59 views

Help with medieval medical passage

I am trying to make out parts of an early 15th century medical manuscript that is barely visible. I make out a line that possibly says: (look below) "CAUTE DERECTE IRINI O TERO" OR "...
Medieval Latin's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
309 views

Can you identify this medieval glyph?

In the attached image from a medieval Florentine manuscript, what is the character/abbreviation after "donavit"? There also seems to be a version of it in the word before "ecclesiam&...
ed94133's user avatar
  • 235
4 votes
1 answer
88 views

What is the meaning of "salvus" in this sentence about music?

Instituta Patrum de modo psallendi is a High Medieval document, allegedly based on circulated precepts of Bernard of Clairveaux, and perhaps other church figures as well. It enjoins church communities ...
Coemgenus's user avatar
  • 742
10 votes
1 answer
594 views

Te tero, Roma, manu nuda, date tela, latete

There's a saying that's interesting for how it's comprised of 8 pairs of reduplicated syllables: Te tero, Roma, manu nuda; date tela, latete It's often loosely translated similarly to below: I will ...
cmw's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
111 views

How big is "duas partes decimarum"?

This record is from The Cartulary of Newnham Priory, transcribing a record from 1166. Simon [II] de Beauchamp granted whole churches and fractions of other tithes to Newnham priory. Here is how it was ...
emrys57's user avatar
  • 487
4 votes
1 answer
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Non est non ens scire

I was reading Niccolo Cabeo's Philosophia Magnetica (1627), p. 180 and found this line: ...quicquid reclamet Aristoteles: non est non ens scire. The context is regarding experiments, and how some ...
Sam Gallagher's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
226 views

Who was the last writer of Latin who was a native speaker

I have a feeling it is Isidore of Seville. Does anyone know if he specifically commented on the language spoken by the common people around him. I'm of course aware that there is no hard boundary ...
bobsmith76's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
149 views

What is the declension class of Late Latin "companiei"?

What is the grammatical case / declension class of Late Latin "companiei"? From the book “Loi Salique ou recueil contenant les anciennes rédactions de cette loi et le texte connu sous le nom ...
Кузнецов Анатолий's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
126 views

Latin Perfect Tense and romance languages particularly Portuguese

How did the perfect tense evolve in each romance language? For example is the Preterito Perfeito functionally equivalent to the Latin Perfect Tense? Heri dormivi. Ontem dormi. Ayer dormi. Hier j'ai ...
George Ntoulos's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
111 views

Quo negato & contrario illius admisso

How would I translate the major premise of this syllogism: Dogma, quo negato, & contrario illius admisso, omnium adhortationum ad perseverandum in fide, comminationum si non perseveremus, ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
6 votes
1 answer
213 views

Which gender for words "Magnificum Consilium"

I would like to name a product in Latin because I find it original and attractive language. I was looking for a translation for the words "great advice" so I found "Magnificus Consilium&...
user10057's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
103 views

How did people describe flags and banners using Latin?

This is my first time on the forum, so If there's any tips to get my question answered feel free to share. I have been working on a Minecraft resource pack that changes the Latin setting, hopefully ...
NanoEta's user avatar
  • 1,401
5 votes
1 answer
266 views

Latin Proverb Translation

How would I translate this Latin proverb: "Qui se instar ovis gerit hunc lupi vorant." Here's what I have: "Those who devour themselves like a sheep carries this man of a wolf."
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
2 votes
0 answers
70 views

Implicitum esse & obsessum teneri

How would I translate the bolded sections of these lines? . . . sine pudore & reverentia intrepido animo peccare, seu facere ea quae mala sunt; propriissime tamen significat peccandi habitui ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
3 votes
1 answer
239 views

Objectum quod vs objectum quo

Could use some help on this translation, especially the bolded sections. Objectum huius amoris est duplex: quod, & quo. Objectum quod est creatura sive homo, qui creatura Dei est. Objectum quo ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
6 votes
1 answer
109 views

What role does "municipatum" play in this sentence?

The abbot Berno of Reichenau, in the opening sentence of his Prologus in Tonarium, some time between 1021 and 1036, called himself the following: licet parvus meritis, servus tamen Dei Genitricis ...
Coemgenus's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
62 views

What is "cum supportatione"?

In Epistolae obscurorum virorum, letter 3: 'Mus miser est antro qui solum clauditur uno.’ Sic etiam possum dicere de me cum supportatione, venerabilis vir, quia essem pauper si haberem tantum unum ...
d_e's user avatar
  • 11k
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Did the ancients or medievals have a word for the energy stored in plants?

If you spend a little time gardening, you soon become aware that plants store energy in their roots, which they collect from the Sun through their leaves. By the end of Autumn, perennials usually have ...
Ben Kovitz's user avatar
  • 15.9k
4 votes
2 answers
654 views

Quem quaeritis?

Different versions of the Visitatio sepulchri, have different line endings. Some use Christicole whereas elsewhere I have seen Christicolae. What is the difference between Christicole/Christicoles/...
Jonathan's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
367 views

On the alleged ambiguity of the Ablative Absolute "Mutatis mutandis"

According to the wikipedia entry of Mutatis mutandis, "Mutatis mutandis is a Medieval Latin phrase meaning 'with things changed that should be changed' or 'having changed what needs to be changed'...
Mitomino's user avatar
  • 8,731
5 votes
2 answers
218 views

Participal plunder: How should ‘animum concentū’ and ‘ex aequō dēmulcēns’ be interpreted?

I am assisting someone working on Bonifaccio’s work on dance, and the following quote from Lucian (The Dance) came up, here with my translation attempt (only on the Latin part) and notes to the same: ...
Canned Man's user avatar
  • 3,429
4 votes
2 answers
117 views

Translating a reflexive pronoun in a sentence with accusative

Translating a sentence from Vieta's In artem analyticen isagoge (available here) I'm having trouble: Et hic se praebet Geometram Analysta, opus verum efficiundo post alius, similis vero, resolutionem ...
Sam Gallagher's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
169 views

Paraphrase of Matthew 11:12 Translation

Could really use some help translating this in general, and the bolded parts in particular (not the meaning of the words so much as their function and placement in the sentence). It is supposed to be ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
2 votes
0 answers
54 views

Elisum nomen ab "a fortiori"

What, if anything, is the elided noun in the phrase a fortiori? A curious variant and a curious translation I had been assuming that the full phrase is a fortiori ratione, "with stronger reason&...
Ben Kovitz's user avatar
  • 15.9k
3 votes
1 answer
54 views

In leviter. How to translate?

How do I translate "in leviter" in this sentence? Sensus esse videtur: ne id tantum agite ut alienorum morum censores sitis, ut facta aliorum rigide ad legem divinam exigatis & notetis, ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
4 votes
1 answer
186 views

Eo. . .quo se ipsa magis

How would I translate this sentence? "Eo vero minus ex hoc loco quicquam efficitur, quod Ecclesia cum rogat "Converte me Domine," rogat ut Deus quo se ipsa magis ad Deum convertat ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029
3 votes
0 answers
70 views

Praeter et Supra, Si non Vires

How does my translation of this passage look, especially with respect to the bolded section(s)? Modestia in cultu ornatuque corporis, praeter & supra, si non vires, saltem dignitatem moribus ...
MichaelJYoo's user avatar
  • 1,029