Questions tagged [terminology]
For questions about technical or specialized words in fields like grammar, IT, politics, sports, etc.
36 questions
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How would you say "body" as in when stating a law of physics?
When writing a Reddit post in Latin, I used the word "corpus" in the singular when stating the second law of thermodynamics:
Secunda lex thermodynamicae docet nobis quia nullum corpus ...
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What do complacentia and concupiscentia really mean?
I"ve started reading Love and responsibility by Karol Wojtyla.
In it I find two interesting terms: amor complacentiae (love as attraction) and amor concupiscentiae (love as desire).
Wouldn't the ...
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How do you talk about set theory in Latin? Specifically, how do you say "set" as opposed to "union"?
In my joke about set theory in Latin:
Hodie in universitate (ego studeo scientiam computorum) docebamur de theoria unionum. Professor nobis explicabat, cur numerus cardinalis unionis unionum non ...
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Is there a poetic term for breaking up a phrase, rather than a word?
In the classical rhetorical tradition, the term "tmesis" is used for breaking up a compound word, as in Ovid's circum virum dant for virum circumdant.
Is there a term for breaking up a noun ...
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Understanding a passage from Frontinus
I recently read the following complaint from Sex. Iulius Frontinus, who was made curator aquarum (supervisor of the aquaeducts) in 97 and later wrote a comprehensive work on the City's water supply (...
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Why are the declensions numbered as they are? [duplicate]
I thought I read somewhere that the declensions are numbered First through Fifth according to a vowel in one of the endings, the numbers corresponding to the sequence of vowels in the alphabet: a, e, ...
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How would the Ancient Greek noun λόρδων decline, and is the LSJ's definition of it correct?
I'm very familiar with Latin declensions, and have the resources necessary for that, but I have found nothing for Ancient Greek that I am able to make use of, especially considering my lack of ...
Qaos
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What is the name of the thing that the tongue does on the trī part in the word patrī?
What is the name of the thing that the tongue does on the trī part in the word patrī? The word is at the 5:06 mark of this video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdQawsU2RFg&t=308s
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Pronunciation in medical terminology
I have been arguing about this with quite a number of people and it seems we all cannot find the answer (med students, duh😅)
My question is: Where should the stress on words like mastoideus and ...
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Grammatical terminology
Do you know the book that describes the origin of grammatical terms, gives their definition, explains why they are called the way they are etc. (e. g. what is "conjugation", why do we call ...
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What does causa procurans mean?
What is the definition of the expression causa procurans, and who may have been the originator of the term?
I found this expression used by a number of people, but I haven't been able to find it ...
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Create new word: super + portare
I want to create a new word by analogy to "support" with the prefix super-. According to Google the modern English word "support" comes from Latin supportare and is composed of sub-...
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Changing tones (?) in Classical Latin
When I heard Classical Latin for the first time on Horatii carmina quae voce canora Thomas Nudipes pronuntiat, I was surprised to hear what I will describe as changing tones! The reason why I was ...
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Is there a Latin equivalent to ἐπίκοινος?
The Ancient Greek grammatical tradition, going back to Dionysius Thrax (or maybe farther), distinguishes five types of nouns: masculine, feminine, neuter, common, and epicene (ἐπίκοινος). Four of ...
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What should the corona virus be called in Latin?
The corona virus (or a specific kind thereof) is a hot topic, and one should of course be able to discuss it in Latin.
But what should we call the thing in Latin?
Both corona and virus are Latin words,...
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Does ancient Greek have its own terms for grammar?
I'm working on ancient Greek (Homeric) vocabulary, and sometimes it's helpful to write down, e.g., on a flashcard, some grammatical information. For example I might want to record that ἕν is neuter (...
user3597
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Why was the subjunctive mood 'so called because the Greek subjunctive mood is used almost exclusively in subordinate clauses'?
Concerning the adjective "subjunctive", OED (3rd ed., 2012) mentions (emphasis mine):
Post-classical Latin subiunctivus is a translation equivalent of Hellenistic Greek ὑποτακτικός , which as a ...
user37
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What is the term for extremely loose Latin word order?
For a Latin-language artificial intelligence called Mensa Latina the user manual will need to discuss and therefore refer to the phenomenon in Latin prose where meaning comes from grammar and ...
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Exactly what is a declension?
I was reading a Latin grammar book (Jenney's First Year Latin, for the curious) having recently resolved to learn a bit about the language and what I understood was as follows:
Latin is an inflected ...
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in order of temporal proximity
In Latin, how would you refer to the concept of sorting events according to temporal proximity (i.e. most recent, or nearest to now, first); as opposed to sorting by priority, or starting from the ...
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What is the "economy principle" in papyrology exactly?
I have come across the phrase "economy principle" somewhere I cannot recall, talking about why some combinations of papyrus fragments were made. What is this principle exactly?
Update
As I typed it, ...
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How to translate machine learning?
Machine learning is a roughly method where a machine learns to perform a certain task by learning on its own.
The machine gains experience and can solve a very specific problem intuitively.
It is not ...
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Why did the Romans link Autumn with earth and melancholy, Spring with air and sanguine, and Winter with water and phelgm?
I don't understand the Romans' linking of humor, season, and characteristics for Humours 1-3. E.g. for 1: 1.1. Why'd black bile predominate in autumn (which I agree, is cold and dry)?
1.2. Why'd ...
user37
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What does 'iure civili' mean in Apuleius VI.23, when Cupid and Psyche get married?
When Cupid and Psyche get married, at the end of their story in Apuleius' Metamorphoses VI.23, Jupiter announces that they will be wed iure civili:
Et ad Venerem collata facie, ‘Nec tu,’ inquit ‘...
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What is the difference between a roman ("novel") and a "Milesiae fabula"?
Apparently, the fabula Milesiae, "story of Miletus", was a Greek genre. Apuleius calls himself "the author of this Milesian tale" in his Metamorphoses (IV.32, below). From what I remember of the (late)...
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General term for each inflected form of a lexeme
illī is a X of ille declension.
illī is singular dative masculine form of ille.
In the first sentence what we should say instead of X?
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Meaning of Spiritus Lenis
I'm studying Arabic grammar from an old text book and it uses the term Spiritus Lenis. What does it mean?
To quote the book:
The object of it is merely to distinguish elif as the long vowel (ie ...
user761
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What exactly is brevis brevians?
I have come across the term brevis brevians a couple of times on this site.
Unfortunately Google does not provide me with a clear definition with examples, so I am still not entire sure what it means.
...
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Is there a rhetorical term for personification?
In the ancient inventory of technical terms for rhetorical effects and devices, was there a term corresponding specifically to personification, in the sense of "the attribution of a personal nature or ...
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Caeteris paribus
Caeteris paribus means "all else being equal" yet, terminologically, also stands in for "all else unchanged". I'm interested in knowing actually how to say "all else unchanged" in a way that bears ...
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Why do we call a case a casus? And why rectus, obliquus?
I would translate the grammatical word casus (whence English case) as "a fall". And, indeed, the German word is Fall, Dutch naamval ("name fall"). Why is this word used for the grammatical function of ...
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Please briefly define "futurum instans"
I am writing a book, quoting from Aune: “There are several instances in Revelation of this use of ἔρχεται as futurum instans…” Note that Aune uses the term “futurum instans” for Greek, not ...
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What is meant exactly by the "familiae Troianae"?
I have seen the term familiae Troianae mentioned in Pauly and elsewhere. It has something to do with Roman families and Trojan ancestry, but it seems to be a fixed and well known term: what does it ...
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Did the Romans have a Latin name for their domestic peristylia?
A typical upper- and probably also middle-class Roman house in the classical age contained a peristylium or peristylum, or so I was told. I wonder why they used a Greek word for such a standard Roman ...
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How does the gerund 'bear' or 'carry'?
[ Etymonline: ]
1510s, from Latin gerundum "to be carried out," gerundive of gerere "to bear, carry" (see gest). In Latin, a verbal noun used for all cases of the infinitive but the nominative; ...
user37
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What's the difference between coniunctivus and subiunctivus?
I was thrown off by a recent question that talked about the "conjunctive" mood, which I had never heard of. A few searches of William Whitaker's Words reveals that both coniunctivus (or conjunctivus) ...
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