Questions tagged [reference-request]
Questions requesting a specific reference to a word, grammatical construct, or other language element, such as in the writings of a particular author.
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Origin of "De gustibus non est disputandum"
The origins of the phrase De gustibus non est disputandum do not seem to be well documented.
Some references say "an ancient Roman adage"; some say "of medieval origin"; others say ...
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What is the Correct Edition of Baluzius' Commonitory of St. Vincent Lerins?
Fr. John Shanahan's 1833 translation of The Commonitory contains the following:
QUESTION: What is ``the Correct (Latin) Edition of Baluzius''; and (if possible) where may I find it?
Thank you.
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How to say "Game Changer" in Latin
How can we describe the disruptive influence of a new factor/invention/information to a sphere of life? as the English idiom "game changer"?
In particular, it would be great to have a ...
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Looking for the source of Cicero quote
I'm looking for a source of a quote for my statistics article. The English-translated quote is found in the 1911 British Encyplopedia. From what I understand Sextus Empiricus quotes Cicero as saying:
&...
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"Bene docet, qui bene distinguit."
Where does the phrase "Bene docet, qui bene distinguit." ("He who teaches well distinguishes well.") come from?
James T. Bretzke in Consecrated Phrases says this is a
Classical ...
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Learning Latin through Aeneid (or another text)
Could you recommend courses/textbooks for learning Latin via a text ?
More specifically: there are exist courses like Reading Course in Homeric Greek teaching one (Homeric) Greek through selected ...
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How to translate Ἀγαθῶν ἓνεκα οὐ γίνεσθαι
How should the following (highlighted) quote of Socrates be translated?
Here's the relevant sentence:
Thus Socrates said of the Civil law, Ἀγαθῶν ἓνεκα οὐ γίνεσθαι.
I came up with the following in ...
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What are classical examples where prepositional ad phrase is inside ad purpose clause
This question is triggered by another question about wheatear the "ad" is prepositional or purpose.
In theory, we should see examples where something like this happens:
Discipuli Marcum ad ...
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Reference for "divide et impera"
The motto "divide et impera" is often attributed to Caesar (I don't want to spam here some low quality references, simply made a Google search). Wikipedia says that
The maxim divide et ...
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On the etymology of Lacedaemon
King Lacedaemon was the son of Zeus and of nymph Taygete. He married Sparta, daughter of King Eurotas of Laconia.
I would like to know more about the etymology of Lacedaemon. The daemon part is easy. ...
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Determining the etymology of words in Latin
I am interested in the etymology of words in Latin. Is there a resource available that could help me determine if a word is specifically from Old, New or Vulgar Latin etc. according to a time it is ...
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Ut syllabās gravēs verbōrum didicimus?
Hanc rēgulam didicī dē verbīs:
Sī syllaba paenultima brevis est, syllaba antepaenultima gravis fit.
Sī autem longa est, ipsa gravis fit.
Ut hanc rēgulam didicimus? Ex grammaticīs? Quō tempore haec ...
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What does "tom. i." mean?
I'm seeing the following abbreviation in several book/manuscript citations, particularly in religious works, but I have no idea what the abbreviation means. From the context of where I'm finding it, I'...
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Olympic oath : The crown or death (?)
In a Wikipedia article about the Olympics, I read the following sentence (my translation)
Finally, the pleasure of participating is alien to the Greek ideal, for which only victory is worth winning, &...
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Where can I look up Mycenaean words?
Given a word in Attic, Doric, Koine, or pretty much any other Greek dialect, I can usually find information on it through the Perseus morphological analyzer.
However, Perseus doesn't cover Mycenaean. ...
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Citation needed for "Casta placent superis..."
I am trying to read the poems of Pope John Paul II. They are sprinkled with references to the Vulgate. But two Latin lines,
Casta placent superis; pura cum veste venite,
et manibus Puris sumite ...
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What are some of the major words that we use in English directly (unmodified) from Latin?
I am looking through the Wiki page on Latin words used in English, but they mostly consist of words like "lux" and "terra", words that are sort of used in English, but really have that Latin feel to ...
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Information on the Penates
I'm writing a passage analysis on Vergil's Aeneid, III.103++, which includes the scene where Aeneas is visited by the Penates (household gods), which the Trojans have brought with them from Troy.
As ...
user2840
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Two Sappho-related reference requests
As some of you will definitely know, I have been grappling with Sappho for a long time. Lately, I have come to an impasse in a couple places, where I have said all I can without a specific reference I ...
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Using genitive and infinitive to describe characteristics
Answering this question, I recalled a somewhat rare construction used to express that an action is characteristic of someone.
Pekkanen's Ars Grammatica (§77.1) gives two examples:
Cuiusvis hominis ...
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Understanding a reference to Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
On page 33 of Companion Animals & Us, there is a line:
I am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home in my own hands fifteen years ...
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How do I access the Oxford Latin Dictionary online?
I'm using a university account to sign into Oxford Scholarly Editions Online (OSEO).
To what 'widget' does the official webpage refer? Is it online? Must it be downloaded?
A widget enabling users ...
user37
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Reference for "Ab esse ad posse valet consequentia"
I came across Kant asserting the following in Metaphysik L₂:
Ab esse ad posse valet consequentia; a posse ad esse non valet
consequentia.
This appears to be a very old precept that probably ...
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Is there a canonical list of Latinized names?
I'm not only talking about names that existed during the classical period, but also the standard Latinization of modern European names; for example hugo, hugonis is the standard medieval Latin ...
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Question related to "the tree of apples" in the Bible
Is it true that we tend to associate the tree whose fruit Eve convinced Adam to taste with an apple tree because of a certain translation mistake related to the word malum? Don't know how common this ...
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A textbook for Latin
What would be the one book recommendation you'd definitely give an individual interested in learning Latin?
The individual would like the book to include a good overview of Latin at the very least; ...
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Are there literary attestations of werewolves in the Classical period?
The modern idea of werewolves seems to have arisen somewhere in the Middle Ages, after the spread of Christianity. But I vaguely remember a story in the Satyricon (specifically at Trimalchio's dinner) ...
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Is there a Latin source for "He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"?
Some time ago I came across a Latin sentence that roughly came down to:
"He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"
At the time I thought: Oh well, this must be a well known Roman saying (...
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References of medieval ornithology terms
I was browsing through the Czech-Latin dictionary Glossarius by Magister Bohemarius Bartholomaeus de Solencia dictus Claretus, which also lists an impressive collection of zoology terms, and I found ...
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What is the largest known piece of Etruscan literature?
The Etruscans had a written language, and they must have had some kind of literature.
Wikipedia gives a short mention.
What is the largest known piece of Etruscan literature?
It could be an epic poem, ...
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What was the classic term for "damnatio memoriae"?
The Wikipedia article on the subject notes that the term damnatio memoriae, referring to the relegation of a person's name to oblivion, as if they never existed, is a neo-Latin expression first ...
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Can we find a quotation from an author containing the word μεγαρτός?
I ran into this this morning, and had an exchange in comments with the other answerer (after answering myself). The word μεγαρτός, I'm fairly certain, means "envied", being the -τος verbal adjective ...
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Is the prefix "di-" more Latin-like than "bi-"?
Question.
(1) Is there anything close to scientifically-meaningful to say about whether the prefix "di-" is more Latin than the prefix "bi-", when indicating two-ness?
(2) Are there published ...
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Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts
I would like to learn how to read medieval Latin manuscripts, but they often use abbreviations/shorthand. What are some books that would help me read these manuscripts?
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Job 5.7 in the King James version
This extract from the novel 'Three Men in a Boat' refers to Job 5.7:
This world is only a probation, and man was born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
I hoped to quote the source, expecting ...
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Semantic differences between Greek comparatives/superlatives of "good", "bad"
(This is more of a reference request than a question, since I'm looking for a more detailed discussion than is normal for an SE answer.)
The Greek adjectives for "good" and "bad" each have several ...
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Learning latin, good books at beginner's level [duplicate]
I would like to learn Latin, starting from scratch. That is to say, I do not know anything at all about Latin. Which book would be a good one to start with?
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Colors of the rainbow
The classical Latin word for a rainbow seems to be Iris (Iris or Iridis, f.).
Did the Romans ever list or otherwise discuss the colors of the rainbow in extant literature?
I asked about colors in ...
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Ancient sources for singing in a bath
Years ago a fellow Latinist told me that singing in the shower is not a new invention.
He mentioned some ancient (Roman, I believe) writer mentioning that singing is convenient while bathing due to ...
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What colours did different colour words mean, exactly?
There are many different words for colours in Latin, but it's not easy to tell what kind of colour was exactly meant by each word.
Do we know what different colour words meant?
In particular, is there ...
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On the etymology of “discipulus” and “disciplina”
I am interested in the origin of the words discipulus and disciplina, which have found their way into many modern languages, e.g., in the English words disciple and discipline. Unfortunately, there ...
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