Questions tagged [word-comparison]
For questions about comparing two or more words, not for comparative forms of adjectives.
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What's the difference between aster, stella, sidus and astrum in Latin?
aster, stella, sidus and astrum are are all nearly means or related to stars. But are there any key differences between these words ?
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Relationship between συμφορά and συμφέρω
A συμφορά generally means a "misfortune"; συμφέρω, however, is unambiguously positive: "to be beneficial."
It's a little strange that τὰ συμφέροντα and συμφορά are (essentially) ...
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Latin Equivalent of "Comparing Apples and Oranges"
Is there an equivalent Latin expression that is similar to "comparing apples and oranges"?
For example:
Person 1: Our hockey goalie is so much better than your hockey goalie! Our hockey ...
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'Aurifer' or 'Auriferus'?
What is the masculine form of "Aurifera" ?
I supposed it was "auriferus":
Tibicen auriferus is like a goldish beetle.
http://www.masscic.org/sightings/cicadas/tibicen-auriferus-in-...
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The difference between ᾰ̓́στρον (ástron) and ἀστήρ (astḗr) in Ancient Greek
The words ᾰ̓́στρον (ástron) and ᾰ̓στήρ (astḗr) both apparently refer to a celestial body (typically stars and planets).
Other than ᾰ̓́στρον being a 'second declension' noun and ᾰ̓στήρ being a 'third ...
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Prana = anima or spiritus?
On p. 188 of Breath, James Nestor writes:
The concept of prana was first documented in India and China…, some 3,000 years ago, and became the bedrock of medicine. The Chinese called it ch'i and ...
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What is the difference in meaning between postposition "causa" and preposition "propter"?
What is the difference in meaning between the postposition "causa" and the preposition "propter"? Both mean "because", right?
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Minimal pair for hidden quantity
Is there an example where the quantity of a vowel makes a difference in a syllable that is heavy by position?
For a concrete example, this does happen in Finnish (where long vowels are written as ...
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Difference between erga and quoad?
In medieval Latin, is there a difference between erga and quoad? They both seem to mean "with respect to".
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What is the difference between the words petere and interrogare?
I was trying to say something around the lines of
what more to ask
which it's kind of an idiom which I think it means something around the lines of "I don't need to ask for anything else"?
...
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cunnilingus vs cunnilinctus
I'm interested in the morphology of these two words. How are they structured and does their structure affect their meaning at all?
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Are Κηφάς (a Greek proper name), κεϕαλή (head), and πέτρος (rock) etymologically related?
Saint Peter was named Cephas by Jesus, which is recorded in the gospels as the Greek translation Πέτρος. Are Κηφάς (a Greek proper name < Aramaic כיפא, kēp̄ā, "rock"), κεϕαλή (head), and ...
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Are pignus, pinguedo, & piger etymologically related?
Are pignus (pledge), pinguedo (fat), and piger (lazy person) etymologically related?
de Vaan p. 465 says:
The etymology [of pignus] is uncertain, since one can imagine a meaning "pledge, surety&...
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commence < commensa = "joint table"?
M. J. Toswell, Today's Medieval University p. 24 claims a new master
would eat at the commensa, the joint table, after his commencement ceremony of stepping upward
Does the English word "...
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Are ἄρσην, ἄρσις and θήλυ, θέσις etymologically related?
In Mt. 19:14, "άρσεν και θήλυ" means "male and female".
In music terminology ἄρσις means a stressed/emphasized sound, and θέσις the corresponding unstressed one.
Is ἄρσις ...
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Amar vs encantar in Latin
As I've understood it, in Spanish there's a difference between using amar for people and encantar for things. Is there a similar difference in Latin?
This page describes the difference:
https://...
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Did the Romans use 'animus' and 'anima' together?
The words animus and anima are pretty close to each other, and their difference has been explored on this site before.
In order to understand their nuances in classical Latin I would like to see an ...
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Are "pater", "parens", "parturitio", & "partitio" etymologically related?
Are pater (father), parens (procreator), parturitio (parturition), and partitio (partition) etymologically related?
Phonetic and semantic similarities lead me to think they might be related. I can't ...
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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 ...
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When to use ae vs a for plurals?
I'm reading Familia Romana book and encountered these 2 sentences.
Corsica et Sardinia insulae magnae sunt.
And
Brundisium et Sparta oppida magna sunt.
Why does the ae changes to a and vice versa?
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What is the relation and history of 'si' and 'sic'?
Lewis and Short tell me that sic comes from si by adding the particle -ce.
I can understand sice wearing down to sic, but I do not quite understand how I am supposed to understand the meanings of the ...
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Two levels of 'and'
What I am looking for is best illustrate by an example, so please excuse the detour.
In Finnish there are two words for "and": "ja" and "sekä".
When used together, "...
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Lonely vs. alone
A person is alone when there are no other people around.
A person is lonely when the presence of other people is missed.
Neither implies the other; you can be lonely but not alone or alone but not ...
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What are the differences between "demens" and "insanus"? Are there any single Latin words (nouns) for "insane person"?
First, I'm struggling with understanding the difference between demens and insanum.
My understanding is that demens is an adjective (insane). I've also seen insanum in a few online dictionaries (here'...
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Can we finally know the difference between these words?
There seem to be four different Latin words, all of which are common, and all of which seem to mean exactly the same thing, "finally":
tandem
denique
demum
postremo
Is there any difference ...
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What is the difference between etiam and enim?
In Latin etiam and enim seem to have pretty similar meanings.
I notice that both Greek and Latin seem to use connective words like this a lot, I suppose because they had no punctuation, so they serve ...
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Euler passage translation (Latin in 18th century)
I would like to include a translation of a brief passage from Euler's music text Tentamen novae theoriae musicae (1739) in an article I am writing, but find the original somewhat tricky to work with. ...
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Difference between 'urbe' and 'oppidum'?
I have found that LLPSI uses oppidum to describe cities (at least in the early chapters) while Duolingo uses urbe. What is the difference, and which should I usually use?
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Distinguishing house from home
The common word domus can mean both "house" and "home".
How can I make a distinction between a house and a home in Latin?
For example, I might buy a house but it doesn't feel like ...
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What are the meanings of servus and minister in ecclesiatical latin?
Reading the answers to another question I thought about the meaning of servus and minister in christian/ecclesiastical latin.
It seems to me that in classical latin servus related clearly to the legal ...
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Romans and Ancient Greek language [duplicate]
Is there evidence in the inscriptions, that Romans have realised, that Hellenic languages are very close to theirs own language!? It seems to be that the distinguish was applied to the Etruscan ...
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Res vs Obiectus
What is the difference in meaning between Res and Obiectus (is it merely a matter of Language evolution Classical vs Medieval)?
As a meaning I am interested in that which (the thing that) is related ...
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Τέλος vs. πέρας
Meanings of πέρας listed in wiktionary:
end, goal, extremity
All these fall within the scope of τέλος. I would like to understand the nuances of these three meanings (there is no problem with ...
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When/whether to use "ineō" instead of "eō"
I am learning Latin for the first time this year, and I have a question about the usage of the verb 'eō', I go. The textbook that I am using, Henle Latin 1st Year, lists 'eō' as follows:
eō, īre, ...
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Is there any difference between "minime" and "minume"?
Prompted by cnread's answer to another question, I wanted to ask: is there any difference between mĭnĭmē and mĭnŭmē?
The linked L&S entries do not offer any obvious commentary. A quick corpus ...
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Difference between αὐτός and οὗτος
In the sentence οὗτος λέγει ὅτι αὕτη τὸ βιβλίον γράφει translated by "He says that she is writing the book." would the meaning change if οὗτος was substituted by αὐτός thus forming the sentence αὐτός ...
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What is the difference between "lux" and "lumen"?
Latin has two common words for "light": lux and lumen.
What are the differences between these two words? Are there any contexts in which one would be appropriate while the other would not? It would ...
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About the difference between the enclitic "ne" and the non-enclitic "ne"
So, I know that -ne is an enclitic to express a yes/no question.
But, the "Ne", as a non-enclitic, as I understood it, could also be a word question.
In "Ne....annon" or "Ne....necne"
Meaning Is it....
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Difference between Sententia and Opinio?
Could you give some examples of sentences showing the difference between Opinio and Sentencia?
Aren't both good translations for "opinions?"
"Through" and "opinion" seems to be translated by both: ...
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Meanings of cibus, and cibi
The dictionary I use tells me that Cibus, could mean "food", or "meals" or "dishes", and many other related meanings.
So, I find logical, that, when you have the plural, it means rather meals/dishes.
...
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How do you translate "My potions are too strong for you?"
It is really just the "are too strong for you" I am having trouble with. We haven't gone over how to say stuff like that in class yet. Would you use the superlative?
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Are the two types of lustra distinguishable?
One meaning of the word lustrum is a sacrifice for purification done every five years; another is a house of ill repute. I'd always figured that the two were complete homophones.
However, someone ...
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Difference between "senex "and "senilis"?
What would be the differences in uses of "senilis" and "senex".
I know "senilis" is constructed with senex+illis, it should help me, but I don't get it.
Thank you.
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How was 'fissiparus' mistakenly analogized with 'vīviparus'?
Is the Wiktionary entry on fissiparous below correct? Why's the analogy "mistaken"? The compounding makes sense to me?
Etymology
An adaptation of the New Latin fissiparus, from fissus (“...
user37
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Why is the phrase "horror vacui" commonly interpreted as "nature abhors a vacuum"?
Why is the Latin phrase: horror vacui commonly interpreted as: nature abhors a vacuum?
It may well be Aristotle's intended message, given the context, but it seems like a bit of a jump. Doesn't it? ...
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Is Cola "probably the best-known" Latin word in the world? If not, which might it be?
I found this in an ecological park:
Cola is actually a Latin word (a scientific one, referring to the plant), albeit its etymology is African.
I am curious about whether it is "probably" the best-...
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Uter vs. Uterque
The way I learned 'uter' and 'uterque' was as follows. 'Uter' is like the Greek 'πότερος', meaning (in interrogative uses) 'which, of two?' and (in non-interrogative uses) 'either, of two'. I learned ...
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<quality> even for being a <noun>
Salvēte omnēs, hocc erit mihi prīmum rogātum hāc in sēde. Haud dūdum vīdī quendam hominem scīscitārī, quōmodo posset Latīnē dīcī "he has a long tail, even for a cat". Ad quod rogātum cum respondēre ...
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ἤ = vel or ἤ = aut?
LSJ says ἤ is a "disjunctive or", but does it correspond Latin's vel ("inclusive disjunction") or aut ("exclusive disjunction")?
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