How to write "gate of worlds" in Latin?

Question

I know that the Latin words for "gate" and "world" are porta and mundus, respectively. However, while I know how to write "Gate of the World" in Latin (Porta Mundi) since both "gate" and "world" are singular in the English phrase, I'm not sure about doing so for "Gate of Worlds".

Do I write it as Porta Mundorum, using the plural genitive of mundus? Or do I use the adjective mundanus and, following the example of "Star Wars" being rendered as Bella Stellaria in Latin (where stellaria is in the neuter nominative plural case), write it as Porta Mundana? Or are both approaches correct? Or are they both wrong?

PS: The phrase "Gate of Worlds" is supposed to emphasize the fact that the gate in question connects several worlds together.

Answer 1

Only one of those options is correct. Let us start with porta mundorum. This translates to "gate of world," which is just what you are seeking, as it is a singular gate belonging to multiple worlds.

Since that checks out, let's take a look at the other one. Porta mundana literally translates to "earthly port." Here, it is a single port belonging to a presumably single earth. I understand the idea of mirroring "Star Wars"/Bella Stellaria, but this is an incorrect correlation in ideas. In Bella Stellaria, bella is actually a plural noun (from bellum). Stellaria, or "stellar," is an adjective modifying bella. This plurality reflects the fact that it is "Star Wars" (multiple wars) and not "War of Stars" (multiple stars). So if you were to pluralize porta mundana to portae mundanae, you would have "Earthly gates" (multiple gates instead of multiple worlds"). Leaving it in the singular doesn't work either. This thus rules out this option.

In summary, porta mundorum is perfectly acceptable.

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Perhaps you would like something that translates closer to "gate between worlds" then I would also suggest porta inter mundos.

Answer 2

I agree with Sam K that porta mundana is simply an "earthly/wordly gate", and therefore not suitable for your use. The genitive is possible, but let me offer another option. If you want to use an adjective — which is often an idiomatic choice in Latin — you might consider intermundanus.

This adjective is not attested in classical Latin (as far as I can tell), but I think there is sufficient precedent for using the prefix inter- productively. For example, we have adjectives like intermenstruus and intermuralis.

Therefore one option would be porta intermundana, which I might translate as "interwordly gate", for the lack of a better word.