Questions tagged [meaning]
For questions regarding the meaning or connotation of a word or phrase.
231
questions
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Both 'masculus' and 'vir' mean man/male: what's the difference?
In Latin, masculus means male.
Noun masculus m (genitive masculī); second declension
a male (of humans or other animals)
In Latin, vir also means male.
Noun vir m (genitive virī); second ...
- 73
3
votes
1
answer
96
views
Haud sciō an ego ita dīxerim
In the line 84 page 264 of Lingua Latine per se illustrata, Gubernātor says
Haud sciō an ego ita dīxerim, sed pro
fectō lībertās mihi vītā cārior est. ...
The part I am interested is
Haud sciō an ...
- 365
-1
votes
1
answer
115
views
¿Qué significa "quoniam igitur"? / What's the meaning of "quoniam igitur"?
En la pagina 262, linea 16, de Lingua latina per se illustrata, la linea empieza con
Quoniam igitur ...
Según el diccionario ilustrado Vox, quoniam significa puesto que o después que, y igitur ...
- 365
4
votes
1
answer
212
views
What's the meaning of "paulum satis" in this sentence?
I've found the following sentence in an exercise (pensum A) at the end of chapter XXVI of Lingua latina per se illustrata. Familia Romana:
Paulum satis est ad beātē vīvendum.
I don't understand the ...
- 1,664
2
votes
2
answers
44
views
What does Una Excelsior mean?
I'm looking for a good phrase to encapsulate "ever upward, together" and i'd like to use Una, Excelsior
Any thoughts or other suggestions?
- 21
8
votes
0
answers
215
views
Quidquid vs quæcumque
Both quidquid and quæcumque are ways of translating English whatever or all things that [sth.], but is there any difference in meaning in that specific context?
I have a vague notion, not based in ...
- 11.1k
4
votes
1
answer
828
views
What is this word and what is it doing?
I'm reading Ανάβασις by Xenophon. Here Klearchos has basically said: "someone else might want to command at this point".
ὡς δὲ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ὃν ἂν ἕλησθε πείσομαι ᾗ δυνατὸν μάλιστα, ἵνα εἰδῆτε ...
- 863
3
votes
2
answers
869
views
What's the meaning of "soli" in this sentence?
I found the following sentence in https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Victimae_paschali_laudes:
Credendum est magis soli Mariae veraci quam ...
This appears to be literally translated into
More ...
- 131
5
votes
1
answer
385
views
What's the role of the word "scribam" in this Cicero's sentence?
This sentence comes from a letter by Cicero to Atticus written when the former is in exile. It can be found in Epistulae ad Atticum 3, 5:
Ad te quid scribam nescio.
I understand that "nescio&...
- 1,664
2
votes
0
answers
144
views
Idiomatic translation of „lilacs“
I'm searching for an idiomatic translation of the word "lilac(s)" (the deciduous shrub), in the context of its scent.
For example, in English, we may would say:
She smells of lilacs.
I‘d ...
5
votes
1
answer
242
views
Meaning of ἂν here?
I've read that Ανάβασις is quite a good choice for a first Ancient Greek text to read (i.e. relatively simple). This is a bilingual text from somewhere.
Ἀρίστιππος δὲ ὁ Θετταλὸς ξένος ὢν ἐτύγχανεν ...
- 863
-1
votes
1
answer
172
views
Which senses does ob have in the following words?
Oxford Latin Dictionary says that prep. ob has the following senses:
ob prep.
In the direction of, towards.
In front of or in the way of (so as to block).
a. (giving the grounds for an attitude,...
- 911
4
votes
0
answers
94
views
Are different meanings of quam and -quam related?
In Keller's Learn to Read Latin, I found that quam has several meanings:
quam is the singular feminine accusative form of qui (interrogative or relative adj, what, which)
quam (interrogative or ...
- 911
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the gender of the word "Haec" in Latin?
"post haec in terris visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est"
I have no knowledge of Latin language. This is a verse from the Latin Vulagate bible. Most translations have this verse ...
6
votes
1
answer
825
views
Meaning of vagitus
I am trying to understand the connotation of “vagitus” before it was adopted by the English language in the 17th century:
According to Etymonline, vagitus
crying of a newborn child, 1650s, from Latin ...
- 321
2
votes
0
answers
66
views
How strong an equivalence does 'ut' imply?
I'm looking for a nuanced answer here about what kind of connotation 'ut' carries when being used comparatively.
Does 'ut' usually have a broad meaning such as the English word 'like' or is it usually ...
- 173
1
vote
1
answer
52
views
Can I say "soni sensi" for "of the felt sound"?
So "sonus" + "sentire" would be "sound" + "to feel".
And "sonus" + "sensus" (past perf. part of "sentire") would be in agreement.
...
user12181
15
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Both "fēmina" and "mulier" mean "woman": what's the difference?
The word fēmina is used with the meaning "woman":
Of human beings, a female, woman (cf.: uxor, mulier, matrona; conjux, marita)
(Lewis and Short)
(Fēmina also means "female" when ...
- 27.3k
-1
votes
1
answer
134
views
What does "gallus" mean in English? [duplicate]
The scientific name of a chicken is Gallus Gallus Domesticus. What does 'gallus' mean?
I think it is related to the Spanish gallo.
- 127
10
votes
1
answer
510
views
Is there something special about "corpus"?
Metamorphoses Book V, the story of Proserpina. At this point Ceres has just thrown some soup in an impertinent man's face and turned him into a lizard (as you do).
mirantem flentemque et tangere ...
- 863
4
votes
1
answer
212
views
On a Quote from St. Gregory and the Contextual Meaning of the Word `Operator'
Contained in St. Alphonsus Liguori's Dignity and Duties of the Priest or Selva, one finds the following passage in the section on "Sanctity Necessary for the Priest":
But St. Bernard says, ...
- 143
5
votes
2
answers
442
views
Another use of gratia as in exempli gratia
A web search tells us that e.g. stands for exempli gratia where gratia has the literal translation of “for the sake of”. Can anyone give another example from the literature where gratia has this ...
- 261
5
votes
0
answers
53
views
Why is the phrase negotiorum gestio instead of alienorum gestio?
In Law negotiorum gestio is a form of agency wherein a gestor acts on behalf and for the benefit of a principal without the latter's prior consent.
For example, while you are traveling abroad, a ...
- 191
0
votes
1
answer
105
views
How to determine when a noun is an objective genitive versus a subjective genitive?
St. Augustine writes in Soliloq. i, 10:
nihil esse sentio quod magis ex arce deiiciat animum virilem quam blandimenta feminæ, corporumque ille contactus sine quo uxor haberi non potest.
Is the ...
- 3,576
1
vote
1
answer
131
views
What would be the name for government for, from, and by
The people
Shareholders
The king
Investors
Customers
Tax payers
Plus explanation. From sources, I've heard that those are
Democracy
Metochocracy
Monarchy
Ependocracy
Pelatarchy
What?
I may be wrong....
- 137
4
votes
1
answer
157
views
Is "Fantasia" a classical Latin word? What was its original meaning?
I'm indecisive as to what title to chose for a novel I finished writing. I went for a pseudo-Latin title : "Apex Fantasia" as it is a fantasy novel.
But I still wonder if I can find ...
- 81
5
votes
1
answer
452
views
What does "Vírgines téneræ" mean?
I´m a native Spanish speaker and I´m reading the book "Método para aprender latín" by Hermann Schnitzler. Right now, I am doing the exercises of the lesson VI (gender of words from the third ...
- 165
5
votes
3
answers
135
views
How "Park"/"square" (view image) is translated in Latin Language please?
Park, small street square, with some threes, banks and water in the middle.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CGOn7X3hBUU/TGbpp3dRQ5I/AAAAAAAABZk/AQ8F0yziEJg/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/100_5375.JPG
http://www....
- 475
4
votes
0
answers
178
views
Has the word 'focus' ever meant 'fire' in Latin literature?
I ask this because in virtually all the Romance languages, the respective descendants simply mean fire, yet when I come across the term in classical literature specifically, it usually meant 'hearth'. ...
6
votes
1
answer
183
views
"Odoratus est" in Genesis 8:21
Genesis 8:21 says "Odōrātusque est Dominus odōrem suāvitātis". What is "odoratus est"? It looks like the perfect passive participle of "odoro", but that doesn't make ...
- 63
4
votes
0
answers
61
views
how 'nunc' is used as a correlative?
I came across this sentence in Jerome's letter to Innocentius:
"Nunc mihi ēuānēscentibus terrīs ‘caelum undique et undique pontus’ nunc unda tenebrīs horrēscēns et caecā nocte nimbōrum spūmeī ...
5
votes
1
answer
465
views
What does the word "numquid" literally mean?
I have come across this word a few times in more later Latin texts. Would this word be merely synonymous with 'num' and 'quid' or is there a different shade of meaning that can be explained through a ...
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Meaning of “universitas litterarum“?
This text I am reading says that the University of Berlin had a ‘universitas litterarum‘. What does that mean?
- 153
9
votes
1
answer
853
views
What is the meaning of _voci populi_ in this quote?
There is one quote by Victor Klemperer that reads:
But there is no vox populi, only voci populi.
which seems to be a bit puzzling.
On a wiki-talk page the translation speculation runs with the ...
- 389
7
votes
1
answer
325
views
What does "facti" mean in this sentence?
I am starting to read the "Novellae" in the Corpus Iuris Civilis and this sentence from the first one is confusing to read: 'et Tzanī nunc prīmum sub Rōmānōrum factī rēpublicā inter ...
5
votes
1
answer
131
views
How to translate this particular phrase? Is it ambiguous?
(From Ovid Apollo and Daphne, book 1 of Metamorphoses)
ut canis in vacuo leporem cum Gallicus arvo
vidit, et hic praedam pedibus petit, ille salutem;
alter inhaesuro similis iam iamque tenere
...
- 863
7
votes
1
answer
173
views
Meaning of "Homo Rebus"
I read a literary text originally written in Portuguese, The monologue of hands by Giuseppe Ghiaroni. I can't understand this passage in Latin :
O autor do "Homo Rebus" lembra que a mão foi ...
- 171
3
votes
1
answer
116
views
Gadiovala / Kadiofala meaning
Ksar Sbahi (Or Ksar Sebihi) is a town in the district of Oum El Bouaki, Algeria.
Under the Roman occupation, the same town held the name (Gadiovala / Kadiofala).
I wonder ir someone can explain the ...
- 161
6
votes
3
answers
699
views
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 ...
- 367
6
votes
0
answers
134
views
Sigillare and sugillare
From signum ("sign") we have a diminutive form sigillum, "little sign", whence in particular: "wax seal made by one's ring print", to close and sign a letter or a box, ...
- 400
5
votes
0
answers
125
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 ...
- 191
7
votes
1
answer
163
views
Which preposition should be used with contrario and why?
Is it better to say argumentum a/ab contrario or e/ex contrario?
It seems that both are acceptable but in most Romance languages it is a contrario.
The movement out/from is not clear/explicit/graphic ...
- 191
5
votes
1
answer
121
views
What does "ad minūtim" mean? Does it mean the same as "minūtus"?
I understand that minūtim is a conjugation of minūtus. Is that correct?
What does "ad minūtim" mean and what would minūtus mean?
user9896
5
votes
0
answers
126
views
Latin "Basic" Colors and Shades
Salvete Omnes,
While I am working on a Minecraft resource pack that changes the Latin, which hopefully fixes some rough spots in it, I came back to a problem which strikes me occasionally with colors ...
- 1,401
5
votes
0
answers
86
views
What are the semantic, pragmatic, or other differences between -tio, -tus, -tura, and other action nouns
Salvete Omnes,
While answering this question on a motto related to computers, I was going to question the authority of Vicipaedia's use of words derived from programma, particularly action nouns from ...
- 1,401
7
votes
1
answer
349
views
Is the word order of "Iura novit curia" used for emphasis?
Is the change in the word order used for emphasis, and how would we translate "iura novit curia" to English while maintaining the word order? We don't have cases and there is the danger of ...
- 191
5
votes
1
answer
208
views
What does Valerius Maximus mean in the line “eoque ictu origo et principium fortioris tragoediae extinctum est.”?
Valerius Maximus, in Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, describes the death of Aeschylus (V.Max. 9.12(ext).2):
Aeschyli uero poetae excessus quem ad modum non uoluntarius, sic
propter nouitatem casus ...
- 153
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
"Aurea prima sata est aetas" - is there ambiguity here?
I'm (re)teaching myself Latin (I studied at school decades ago), and I've just picked up a book of excerpts from Ovid.
Aurea prima sata est aetas, quae vindice nullo,
sponte sua, sine lege fidem ...
- 863
7
votes
1
answer
166
views
Why is the subjunctive used in Vergil's Georgics, 3,250?
Vergil's Georgics, book 3, line 250, reads:
nonne vides ut tota tremor pertemptet equorum corpora si tantum notas odor attulit auras.
Why is the subjunctive mood used here? And what is this ut?
- 261
9
votes
2
answers
471
views
Meaning of "τρίχας" in Anacreon's Περι Γέροντος
Here's a poem from Anacreon's Odes:
ΠΕΡΙ ΓΕΡΟΝΤΟΣ
Φιλῶ γέροντα τερπνόν,
Φιλῶ νέον χορευτήν.
Γέρων δ᾽ ὅταν χορεύῃ
Τρίχας γέρων μὲν ἐστιν,
Τὰς δὲ φρένας νεάζει.
From what I've found, τρίχας is the ...
- 599