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I'm rolling a character-sheet and I'd like to call the fellow Browncoat, lIke the fans of Firefly. I think it would be Fulvus Tunicus for a reddish brown coat as a name but (for reasons too complicated to get into) I have forgotten just about all the Latin I learned in school and I can't remember how to make a description a name, for instance, "You know, that guy who always wears a brown coat to the forum...Brown-Coat!" What would that NPC be calling my character?

I hope I don't sound as dumb to you folks as I do to me. Be gentle. LOL Thanks in advance. -Boaz

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I think Fulvo tunicatus would work. "Tunicked in brown", so to speak.

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Here's some cursory vocabulary research (using Logeion and Whittaker's Words):

Cloak

  • Praetextus (participle, can mean cloaked)
  • Vestis (clothes in general)
  • Amictus (whatever you drape around yourself)
  • Sagulum (traveling cloak/military cloak)
  • Clamys (military cloak)

Brown

  • Brunus (brown)
  • Fulvus (yellowish-brown)

I kind of like a construction with a participle. No reason, it's purely arbitrary.

"Bruno Praetextus" -- He having been been cloaked in brown.

The plural, to refer to many people could be "Praetexti Bruno" -- Those having been cloaked in brown.

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    I like the general idea, but am a little reserved about your choice of words … praetextus can mean “clothed in the toga praetexta,” the bright toga with purple stripes reserved for the holders of the highest civil and religious offices (and for little boys). Other than that its meaning is more along the lines of “bordered, trimmed, studded” (like the aforementioned toga). Brunus is fine per se, but it's quite a rare medieval word. – Sebastian Koppehel Mar 6 at 15:59
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    I liked 'bruno' because, despite being rare, it is the most similar word to English "brown" in Latin AND its already a name in English. I think that those meanings of praetextus are absolutely fine in context -- the title is supposed to be for the lovers and cult-followers of Firefly who would clearly hold themselves in esteem. Although, having googled the context further, perhaps sagulum would be a better choice, considering the military connotations. – Nickimite Mar 6 at 17:04
  • You guys are great, you know that? Thank you kindly. :) – I am Boaz Mar 11 at 23:42

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