Questions tagged [vocabulary]
This tag is for questions concerning the meaning and usage of individual words or a few words in conjunction with each other.
683
questions
5
votes
3answers
495 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
385 views
Is "intrum" a word?
There is a company called Intrum, which was called Intrum Justitia from its founding in 1923 to a merger in 2017.
This strikes me as a clear attempt at making a name sound more prestigious by making ...
8
votes
2answers
795 views
What does the word "recusus" mean in book titles?
A bit of a mystery here (for someone not very well-versed in Latin at least).
I often encounter the word recusus in book titles of the post-classical period, usually but not always in conjunction with ...
6
votes
1answer
68 views
Remainder and quotient in latin?
I am a beginner in Latin and I write most of my math lectures in Latin. I searched at Wikipedia and other sites but I can't find any translation of these words.
8
votes
3answers
878 views
Understanding the spelling deviation from the scripture in the title of a sundial nearby a Catholic church in Moscow
In Moscow, nearby the Church of St. Louis of the French,
a parish church of the French Catholic community in Moscow,
embedded into the wall of the building that
back in the day was the church’s ...
4
votes
1answer
98 views
Homeric word for a tent?
The word I've seen for "tent" in koine is σκηνή, but this word doesn't seem to occur in Homer. The Greeks' shelters on the shore of Troy are κλισίαι, which Cunliffe translates as "hut ...
9
votes
1answer
458 views
Did the Romans have a Latin word for 1000 years?
Did the Romans have a specific word to imply 1000 years? Millennium is Latin, of course, but it's later Latin and I'm trying to find something more classical. There are more general words for periods ...
4
votes
1answer
67 views
Homeric expression for "easy?"
All of the following seem to be expressions in ancient Greek meaning "easy," as in "tic tac toe is an easy game:"
εὐπετής
εὔπορος
ῥᾳδιος
εὐμαρής
εὔκοπος
However, none of these ...
0
votes
1answer
127 views
What is the difference between uti and quare?
Uti and quare seem to have similar meanings, (how? or in what manner?)
Is there a difference between the two words? What situations would they be used in that would differ?
6
votes
1answer
99 views
Peculiar use of 'neque'
In Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata Pars I, cap. VI it says,
Quam longa est via Flaminia? Neque ea tam longa est quam via Appia.
I am unsure as to how to translate 'neque' here or rather why it is ...
-2
votes
1answer
53 views
Difference between vaco and vagor?
The verbs vaco and vagor seem to be very similar but nevertheless are obviously carefully differentiated in Latin and were not coalesced, so I suppose there is some specific difference in meaning ...
2
votes
1answer
59 views
The word bibliopolium means a bookstore?
I have been trying out Rosetta Stone's Latin instruction program, which is kind of interesting because it attempts to teach modern conversational Latin, as though it were a living language, which is ...
7
votes
1answer
131 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
53 views
Can "Pulsus" be used to suggest the beating of a pulse from something other than the human body?
Pulsus when used with arterium specifically references the beating of the arteries in a person. If I wanted to describe something inanimate as having a pulse, would it make sense to an ancient Roman ...
7
votes
1answer
128 views
Use of "in" with ablative
I'm hoping someone can clarify the meaning of the medieval Latin phrase "in ipsa" when referring to a decision or action not being "in" or "upon" someone, which I assume ...
6
votes
2answers
108 views
how to express "indefinite distributive numerals" ("several dollars each")? is aliquoteni classical?
In answer to the question Quotiens? (How many times), one can respond with aliquotiens (several times). But for the question Quoteni? (How many of each), can he come up with aliquoteni?
For I can't ...
7
votes
1answer
434 views
What is the difference between these two variants of the word?
I am looking for a Latin translation of the word arsonist. Having made translations in various machine translation software it all narrows to two choices. One is incendiarius and the other is ...
5
votes
0answers
47 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
146 views
Can "homo" be used as an impersonal pronoun?
In English, we can say "one must do this" or "one should do that", as a way of referring to any person, not just one person in specific. Can homo be used in a similar fashion in ...
6
votes
0answers
30 views
How did people describe flags and banners using Latin?
This is my first time on the forum, so If there's any tips to get my question answered feel free to share.
I have been working on a Minecraft resource pack that changes the Latin setting, hopefully ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
What is the best word for "constellation"?
In a previous question about a Cicero quote, he uses the word sidera. Lewis & short give the definition of sidus as:
a group of stars, constellation, heavenly body
Astrum has a similar ...
2
votes
1answer
43 views
Is my translation of "Under the light of the shining star" correct?
I've translated the title "Under the light of the shining star" into Latin:
Sub Lux Astri Lucens
Sub Luce Astri Lucentis
Is this correct? I've not learned participle forms of verbs yet, ...
7
votes
1answer
179 views
Did perveniō acquire a new meaning in Late Antiquity?
Introduction
I am reading an article by Bowersock.¹ In a discussion of the removal of Āra Victōria from the Senate, he references Symmachus’ ‘ūnō itinere nōn potest pervenīrī ad tam grande sēcrētum’. ...
8
votes
1answer
704 views
Writing "I'm proud of myself"
I came up with "mihi superbus sum" with "mihi" as the Dative form of ego for "of myself", "superbus" for "proud", and "sum" for "I'm&...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
How can I define a new word in Latin?
As Latin is an ancient language, many words denoting new meanings are not available. So, I think it's necessary to define some new words in Latin. For example, principissa (a New Latin word, just ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
How do you say “anyway” in Latin?
Using ‘anyway’ to indicate that the previous matter was an aside, or it doesn’t affect the conclusion, for instance, to say: “It was wet and nobody was at the park. Anyway, I went home.”
6
votes
2answers
264 views
Where can I find large public domain texts in latin?
I need to have a large selection of free, publicly available texts in Latin on the internet, hoping to train an neural network (computer algorithm) on it. It would eventually be able to generate ...
7
votes
1answer
321 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
198 views
Dramatis Personae but for important words
What is a phrase that acts like Dramatis Personae (for listing the important characters of a play) but for the important words?
I've thought of Dramatis Vocabulum, but I'm sure there's a better answer ...
4
votes
2answers
390 views
Translate "Now and Forever" into Latin
On Gary Numan's new album Intruder, he has a song called Now and Forever, which also uses that line repeatedly throughout the song. How would you express this in Latin? The lyrics are from a first-...
7
votes
1answer
188 views
List of locations in a play (analogue of ‘Dramatis Personae’)
The phrase ‘Dramatis Personae’ is conventionally used to describe a list of characters in a play.
What would be an analogous phrase to describe a list of places/locations/settings (eg ‘Elsinore, ...
4
votes
1answer
95 views
How this phrase could be written in classical latin?
How would the phrase "Vi veri vniversum vivvs vici" be written in Classical Latin? As far as I know, it is by Christopher Marlowe, originally written as Vi veri vniversum vivus vici, used in ...
10
votes
1answer
1k views
How do you say "I am vaccinated" in Latin?
How do you say that you have been vaccinated in Latin? I'm not sure how to construct this tense, and I'm not familiar with a modern Latin verb for "vaccinate".
14
votes
3answers
2k views
Did the Romans have a word for "genius"?
I am looking for a Latin word corresponding to the common modern English sense of the word "genius", a person with extraordinary ability in a specific field.
I do not want to refer to the ...
5
votes
1answer
270 views
Adverbial intensifier
Populi!
I try to find a word in Latin which couriers this specific sense:
right, just, the very;
and still found nothing.
I mean that I can find it in many another languages:
right here, just behind, ...
5
votes
1answer
134 views
How to say "bad batch" in Latin?
Suppose one of the four batches of amphorae produced yesterday at my pottery is discovered to be deficient and has to be thrown away instead of being sold.
What should I call such a "bad batch&...
8
votes
1answer
321 views
Differences between cano and canto
In Cap. X of LLPSI, Ørberg introduces the verb cano, having introduced canto in a previous chapter. The usage of both so far is just sing, but are there more nuanced differences between the two?
From ...
5
votes
1answer
230 views
How do you say "anything is possible" in Latin?
If you wanted to say that anything is possible in Latin, how would you do it?
One possibility I thought of was something like:
Omne posse
I'm not sure that omne quite captures the nuance of anything ...
14
votes
2answers
1k views
What would an election campaign be called in Latin?
Our site has its first election now and the voting period starts in 12 hours.
Therefore it is a good moment to figure out some of the election vocabulary in Latin.
What would be a good Latin word for ...
4
votes
1answer
122 views
What does "Prout necessitas ferat atque experientia suffragetur" translate to in English?
What would this latin sentence mean : "Prout necessitas ferat atque experientia suffragetur" ?
No idea...
Note: found in this link
6
votes
1answer
375 views
In Matthew 27, why does the Vulgate call the graves of people who were resurrected along with Jesus "monumentum", but Jesus's grave "sepulchrum"?
In Matthew 27, why does the Vulgate call the graves of people who were resurrected along with Jesus "monumentum", but Jesus's grave "sepulchrum"?
Matthew 27:53 says, in Vulgate:
...
5
votes
1answer
185 views
Latin justification for the English word tradent
I was reading the following thread https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/tradent.3819293/ - There it is stated that the English word tradent, according to the OED means
Chiefly in Rabbinic Jewish ...
7
votes
1answer
444 views
Translate "I will cast my shadow" into Latin
I want to translate I will cast my shadow into Latin. This phrase is inspired from a poem by Horace, that has the line:
Pulvis et Umbra Sumus
My interpretation of this is that we are simply our ...
5
votes
1answer
170 views
Homeric hapax legomenon ἐγγεινομαι -- is it not real?
There is a 2018 thesis by Alexandra Kozak, "Le Dictionnaire des hapax dans la poésie grecque archaïque, d'Homère à Eschyle," freely downloadable from https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-...
10
votes
3answers
4k views
Could one consider using Latin as a daily casual language these days?
I just saw a video asking like how would one say I just had an avocado toast and thought about some of the new stuff that didn't exist back then. How would we integrate new words into the Latin ...
9
votes
1answer
457 views
What is the ancient Greek word for apprenticeship?
I'm looking for an ancient Greek word that denotes a trainee craftsman's regime of study under a master, I found the word μαθητεία but I'm unsure if that is a word in ancient Greek or only in modern ...
28
votes
4answers
6k views
ATM in Vatican City: "Inserito scidulam quaeso ut faciundam cognoscas rationem"
The automated teller machines in Vatican City show this screen when awaiting a card:
Could someone, quaeso, break this down word by word? There are a number of things here that I find puzzling or ...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
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 ...
6
votes
2answers
804 views
Why -ώς in αἰδώς?
The word αἰδώς means awe, shame, or respect. There are related words such as αἰδοῖος. I feel like I ought to be training my brain to recognize inflections in order to get clues as to meaning, but as ...
5
votes
1answer
120 views
What is the present participle of fio?
Horace wrote the line brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio in De Arte Poetica Liber. I want to use the latter half of the phrase, obscurus fio, as a song title but I'd like it to be in the form of I am ...