3

How can I translate "for those I love I will sacrifice" to Latin? I got several different answers from different sources:

  • prō meīs nihil nōn patiar
  • prō dīlēctīs nihil nōn patiar
  • Iillis quos amo deserviam

1 Answer 1

2

Here are what those sentences literally mean:

prō meīs nihil nōn patiar

"For the sake of mine and my own, there's nothing I won't endure."

prō dīlēctīs nihil nōn patiar

"For the sake of the beloved ones [i.e. the ones I love], there's nothing I won't endure"

Iillis quos amo deserviam

"I will be utterly devoted to the people whom I love."

Out of the three, I like the first one best. It's elegantly-put and has a very nice rhythm to it; I certainly couldn't do better than that myself.

3
  • 1
    I think the verb here is not servare but servire, "to serve" or "to be slave". The one to be served is often put in dative. A more devoted variant of the verb is deservire. Therefore the third suggestion is closer to "I will serve with devotion the ones I love" and is grammatical apart from the extraneous i in the first word.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Jun 7, 2019 at 18:54
  • @JoonasIlmavirta Good call—do you want to write that in as an answer? Otherwise I'll edit mine.
    – Draconis
    Jun 7, 2019 at 20:26
  • Go ahead and put it in! If I come up with a nice idea for the phrasing of the whole sentence I might write a new answer, but that shouldn't keep you from improving yours.
    – Joonas Ilmavirta
    Jun 7, 2019 at 20:47

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.