Questions tagged [adjective]
For questions about adjectives.
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Translating "east–west" and "north–south"
In many railway transit systems, the lines connecting the north/east part and the south/west part of a city are called "North–South Line" and "East–West Line". In many languages ...
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Is verus (true) etymologically related to viridis / vireo (green / to be green)?
Is verus (true) etymologically related to viridis / vireo (green / to be green)?
The closest to this that St. Isidore in his Etymologies p. 124 says:
Switches (virga) are the tips of branches and ...
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How to obtain the stem of a comparative adjective?
Learn to Read Latin says on p276 in Section 109. Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs:
Comparative Degree of Adjectives
All regular first-second and third-declension adjectives in Latin form
the ...
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Is -is the feminine singular nominative endings of third-declension adjectives with three or two nominative singular forms?
Learn to Read Latin says on p151 in Section 74 Third-Declension Adjectives:
To find the stem of third-declension adjectives with three or two
nominative singular forms, take the feminine singular ...
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Why do emasculatus and effeminatus mean the SAME thing, despite being formed the SAME way with OPPOSITE morphemes? [duplicate]
The etymological constructions of emasculatus and effeminatus are identical:
emasculatus < ex- + masculus + -atus
effeminatus < ex- + femina + -atus
Since masculus and femina are opposites, ...
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Adjectives in dictionaries
When meeting an adjective in a dictionary, there are some suffixes. What are they referring to?
For example:
extremus, a, um = extreme
amplus, a, um = important
iratus, a, um = triggered
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Is μάλα (mala, adv.) derived or cognate with some adjective?
In Attic Greek, μάλα is an adverb meaning "very, very much, exceedingly." Is it derived from some adjective, or is there an adjective that is its cognate?
Is μακρός (makros) the adjective?
...
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Translating plant names used attributively
In English and some other languages, a plant name (or a fruit name) can be used like an adjective ("attributively"), for example apple juice, oak wood, birch bark.
When translated into Latin,...
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Lack of gender agreement in Aeneid iv.169-70
I was thrown by the lack of gender agreement in line iv.169 of the Aeneidː
Ille dies primus leti primusque malorum //
causa fuit;
I translate: “That was the first day of death, and was the first ...
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Novo v. Novus v. Novum for demonym
What would be the correct or most appropriate demonym for someone who was from New Spain? I have seen “Nova Hispania” used for New Spain in some 17century maps but wikipedia also uses “Viceregnum ...
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How to say "bookish" (adj.) in Latin?
How does one say "bookish" adj. (in the sense of possessing speculative but lacking practical reason or social skills) in Latin?
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"Friendless" in Latin?
I am looking for a general strategy for translating adjectives like "friendless" into Latin.
My interest is general, but for concreteness I will discuss my thoughts in light of this example.
...
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sempiternus vs. æternus
What's the difference between sempiternus ("always eternal") and æternus ("eternal")?
Does æternus refer to creatures (e.g., angels and human souls) that were created in time but ...
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Why "suam" and not "eius" is used in this sentence?
In lines 63-70 of chapter XVIII of Lingua latina per se illustrata. Familia Romana, one reads:
Discipuli magistro tabulās suas dant. [...] Magister suam cuique discipulō tabulam reddit, prīmum Sexto, ...
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Grammatical number agreement in this sentence
This sentence corresponds to line 57 from chapter XIII of the 2003 edition of Lingua latina per se illustrata. Familia Romana:
Diēs mēnsis prīmus 'kalendae' nōminātur.
If the adjective primus is ...
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Why is "uenetus" a colour name?
I recently came across the following entry on Wiktionary for the adjective "uenetus":
of or pertaining to the Veneti; Venetian
blue, blue-green, sea-blue
Why and how is this adjective ...
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An adjective for Seneca
A particular passage in Cicero's works is a locus Ciceronianus, a work written in the style of Vergil is an opus Vergilianum etc.
But which adjective should I use for Seneca?
There exists apparently ...
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In Vulgate in Ecclesiastes 2:16, why does it say "et futura tempora oblivione *cuncta* pariter operient" (neuter accusative plural) and not "cunctos"?
In Vulgate in Ecclesiastes 2:16, it says "...et futura tempora oblivione cuncta pariter operient...". I guess that's supposed to mean "...and the future times will cover entire them by ...
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Verb splitting noun and adjective [duplicate]
The concluding prayer of the prime office says:
℣. Dóminus nos benedícat, ✠ et ab omni malo deféndat, et ad vitam perdúcat ætérnam.
Why does the verb (perdúcat) split the noun (vitam) and the ...
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Why is the superlative form of "fertilis" "fertilissimus" rather than *fertillimus?
Superlatives of adjectives ending in -lis are usually formed with the suffix -limus. For example, the superlative of facilis is facillimus. So, why is the superlative of fertilis fertilissimus, rather ...
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Are the positive and comparative versions of an adjective different adjectives or different forms of the same adjective?
I am trying to figure out the difference between a word and a form of a word.
Which is the comparative version of an adjective in the positive degree:
an adjective different from the adjective, or
a ...
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Is qua an adverb or adjective?
Keller's Learn to Read Latin says
quare (rel. or interrog. adv.) because of which thing; therefore; why
The qua of the adverb quare may be either a relative adjective (see
$86) -- "because of ...
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Is quam an adjective or adverb?
Keller's Learn to Read Latin says quam is a relative adjective or an interrogative adjective:
The quam of the adverb quam ob rem may be either a relative adjective [see §86)-“on account of which ...
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How to tell if an adjective listed in a vocabulary is third-declension or first-second-declension?
In Keller's Learn to Read Latin:
When a third-declension adjective has three forms in the nominative singular, the vocabulary entry contains the same elements as the entry for a first-second-...
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Adjectives vs nouns and the meaning of a sentence in Familia Romana
Perhaps this is obvious, but I am self-taught at this point. I want to get some basic understanding before I start paying a teacher. I have started reading Familia Romana.
I am still looking for the ...
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Is there a semantic difference between -icus and -alis?
As far as I know both suffixes can be used to create an adjective from a noun.
e.g. numericus and numeralis (and even numericalis!)
Is there a semantic difference between them, a preferred suffix for ...
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I need to translate a quote
This quote is original: "Even to the question whether there can be only one truth, the answer is twofold"
I used Google translate to translate it to latin and this is what I got: "Etiam ...
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What are the types of hair in latin?
What would be the adjectives to describe someone's hair?
The only I know is "crispus" "curled"
Could i just translate the adjectives in English into latin?
Straight hair= capillus ...
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Can a noun be qualified by two juxtaposed adjectives?
I read online (I'm sorry, I can't remember where) that if two adjectives refer to the same noun, you have to use a conjunction like "et" or "-que".
Socrates sapiens senex vir est. ...
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General question about nouns and adjectives (can nouns be adjectives and how to decline)
I know that in Latin, adjectives can act as nouns (substantives) e.g.
Romani urbem petiverunt.
The Romans attacked the city.
However, can nouns act as adjectives?
For example, stone (lapis, m) and ...
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Ecquis as a modifying adjective
I'm unsure of the bolded part of the sentence:
Haec prima sententia est, quam ut clarius explicemus, diligenter attendendum venit, ecquis iuxta hanc sententiam tum in electionis tum in reprobationis ...
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How do you assign ambiguous adjectives?
In many cases I encounter situations where an adjective could be modifying different words in the same sentence. For example, in the famous play Miles Gloriosus there is the line:
Mala mulier mers est....
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What word does 'iucunda' modify in this sentence from Cicero?
I am reading a letter fom Cicero to his friend Atticus and can't quite pinpoint exactly how the word iucunda functions thereof:
"Nam mihi omnia, quae iūcunda ex hūmānitāte alterius et mōribus ...
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How are multiple, hyphenated, or compound adjectives declined [in botanical latin]?
I'm studying some old plant cultivar names. One of the rules for botanical latin is that if an epithet is a latin adjective, it has to agree with the gender of the genus. I'm not sure how to apply ...
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What is the syntax of ‘quamquam omnis secrētī capācissima’?
In Pliny’s letter 1.12, when he describes his meeting with his Domitian-hating friend, he mentions how all servants would leave when close friends came by, and even his wife ‘who was fully capable of ...
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How would you translate "The Snow Queen" into Latin?
"The Snow Queen" here being the Anderson's personage.
Regina Nix, Regina Nivis, Regina Nivea, Regina Nivosa?
Which is closer to the original meaning? (And what is it, at last?)
To me, it's ...
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Is this use of elliptical neuter superlatives un-Ciceronian?
This may be an oddly specific question, but I've run across comments online that suggest the following usages found in Pliny the Elder's Natural History would not be valid in the Latin of Cicero:
Ad ...
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Why is there no case agreement between "magni" and "poetae"?
Shouldn't "magni" be "magnae" as it is modifying "poetae"?
Fīliae vestrae dē libris magnī poētae saepe cogitābant.
The quote is from Wheelock's Latin, chapter 6.
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Is "necesse" an adjective or an adverb
Introduction
My enquiry arrises from a passage in “Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata: Familia Romana” in its tenth chapter which is entitled “BESTIAE ET HOMINES” on its fifty-ninth line which is as ...
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Can 'talia' modify a noun with an adjective?
I want to say: 'such a strong group', and I'm thinking that this meaning of 'talia' found in the OLD can do this but in all of the examples none of the nouns are modified by an adjective. Does this ...
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What is the general ablaut rule that explains examples like φρήν, πρόφρων, πρόφρονα?
Φρήν (midriff, will) gives rise to the adjective πρόφρων (eager, literally motivated by will). It looks to me like the -ων comes from ablaut applied to -ην. (It doesn't look like a suffix -ων, since ν ...
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Is it grammatically correct to attributively use nominative forms of nouns in New Latin?
There are some muscle names in New Latin that seem to be nouns as far as I can tell, such as flexor and extensor. However, according to several Wikipedia articles for these muscles, they behave as if ...
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Is it possible for adverbs, such as utique, to be used as adjectives?
Reading Ambrose Dē bonō mortis 4.14, I came across this passage:
Sed ipsa hīc vīta bona sī est, quibus rēbus bona est? Virtūte utique, et bonīs mōribus.
But if this life here is a Good, by which ...
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How can you find the stem for an adjective in Latin?
For example, for the word bonus, bona, bonum ('good') the masculine nominative singular obviously has the same stem as the oblique forms. But, with a word like 'our' (noster, nostra, nostrum) how can ...
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Why is it "Discipulus pulcher est" and not "Discipulus pulchrus est"?
I think its something with declension, but can't quite wrap my head around why it would be pulcher instead of pulchrus for that phrase.
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A Latin adjective for New York?
The city of New York is often called Novum Eboracum in Latin.
Let us ignore other options for the purpose of this question; I just want to understand city names with two or more words through an ...
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Is there a general method for creating an adjective from a noun?
In an answer to making an adjective from a noun, Joonas mentions that creating adjectives from nouns is not a trivial matter and gives a solution to making an adjective out of chicken for an ...
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Can I label an admission as an "ex post facto mea culpa" in this case?
I would like to perform a mea culpa and "admit" that I'd given advice that in hindsight might have been suboptimal as it didn't sufficiently address all possible future outcomes. So calling ...
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Superlatives (Cambridge Latin Course)
I have one question about the translation of the superlatives.
For some reason in Cambridge Latin Course they always give the following translation for the superlatives:
laetissimus — very happy
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