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11 votes
2 answers
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What is the difference between "novi" and "scio"?

Latin has at least two words that straightforwardly translate to English "know": novi (perf. of nosco) scio Plautus combines the two pleonastically: nec vos qui homines sitis novi nec scio Here'...
brianpck's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
129 views

About an Athenaeus quote marginally related to Sappho

Here is the quote: ἐκαλεῖτο δέ τις καὶ βαλανωτὴ φιάλη, ἧς τῷ πυθμένι χρυσοῖ ὑπέκειντο ἀστράγαλοι. Σῆμος δ᾽ ἐν Δήλῳ ἀνακεῖσθαί φησι χαλκοῦν φοίνικα, Ναξίων ἀνάθημα, καὶ καρυωτὰς φιάλας χρυσᾶς. ...
MickG's user avatar
  • 3,275
11 votes
5 answers
3k views

Tantibus: genuine Latin word, or made-up?

I came across the word tantibus while reading this page (as part of a bigger word, amalgotantibus), where it's claimed to be Latin for "nightmare"; a little bit of digging also revealed that it's the ...
MarqFJA87's user avatar
  • 665
3 votes
2 answers
624 views

What is 'leading the way day and night' in Latin?

This is the motto for my Dad's SWAT team. They wanted to have a Latin translation and which could be put on a shirt, and possibly their new badge.
hb1108's user avatar
  • 31
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Does the word "negotium" literally mean "not otium"?

Spanish word ocio (English: 'leisure') and negocio (English: 'business` among other meanings) come from Latin otium and negotium. Spanish ocio also gave ocioso, as in estar ocioso (English: 'to be ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 2,219
1 vote
3 answers
161 views

About Sappho Lobel-Page 152

Looking at this in different editions, you find μεμειχμένα in Lobel-Page, Voigt (whence the above snippet), and Campbell, μεμειγμένα in Edmonds, and μεμιγμένα in Bergk. None of those offer any "...
MickG's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
1k views

How would I talk about supernatural "possession"?

Many stories, both ancient and modern, concern "possession": a supernatural entity of some sort takes over a human or animal body and controls it. Is there a Classical Latin word for this phenomenon? ...
Draconis's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
79 views

Case of the adjective in "made someone more something"

In A new latin composition by Charles E. Bennett one may find following statement to translate into latin (from Lesson IV): This circumstance made the troops more courageous. My attempt at ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
62 views

How to translate "The stolen letter of Arithmetic"

I would like to give a memorable title to a short text that I am writing and I thought of the above one in reference to the short novel by E. A. Poe, The Purloined Letter. A few attempts with ...
Samuel Vidal's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
77 views

What is up with these codices?

Sorry for the vague title, but that is really the question. The problem is with the manuscript sources for Lobel-Page incerti auctoris 24. From Edmonds on, the sources are reported as: υεσζερυμηνιον ...
MickG's user avatar
  • 3,275
4 votes
1 answer
138 views

Does "Iulus" predate Vergil?

In Vergil's Aeneid, Aeneas's son is given the name Iulus/Julus, which would correspond to the clan name Iulius/Julius. Not at all coincidentally, this implies a connection between the legendary hero ...
Draconis's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
255 views

What is the difference between nego, ignoro, and nescio?

Trying to understand the subtle differences between the three words "nego", "ignoro", and "nescio". This question is not about the meanings in modern English, but the original meanings of the ...
Ambroise Rabier's user avatar
10 votes
8 answers
7k views

What is the Latin joke here?

The other day I watched Evil under the sun, a film about Agatha Christie's homonymous novel, where the following lines were said: Patrick Redfern: It's funny to think, if Giuseppe Verdi had been an ...
luchonacho's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
846 views

Pun on Leibniz quote

Can anyone help me out with the two Latin sentences in the quote below ? After googling and looking up a dictionary I was only able to come up with something like, "It is unncessary to employ many ...
New User's user avatar
  • 103
5 votes
1 answer
82 views

What is the equivalent of "Making someone feel he is indebted" in Greek?

There is a behavior that can arise when one does a favor for another person and after proceeds to put that person in a position they owe them something. Not to conflate in the "debt" or "indebtedness"...
Leb_Broth's user avatar
  • 263
5 votes
1 answer
363 views

Excelsior aude?

I came across the phrase "excelsior aude" which seems to translate to courageously onward and upward? Is this accurate and would be it better reversed to aude excelsior or excelsior aude? Any thoughts?...
Kenneth Gorton's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
265 views

Shouldn't "decursus" be accusative in Psalm 1:3?

(Psalm 1:3, Clementine Vulgate) Et erit tamquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo: et folium ejus non defluet; et omnia quæcumque faciet ...
Pascal's Wager's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

The idiom "poenas dare" is translated passively. Why?

I'm new to Latin. I've been learning for about a month. I'm wondering if anyone can explain why "poenas dare" is often translated as "to pay the penalties" instead of "to give the penalties". I feel ...
Phillip's user avatar
  • 193
3 votes
1 answer
336 views

How do you say 'tidy up'?

How could the verb phrase 'tidy up' be put in Latin please?
Lorna Ellis's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
6k views

What makes a syllable "heavy" or "light"?

The rules for positioning of syllable stress in Latin are relatively simple; they are as follows: In two-syllable words, the stress always falls on the first syllable. In three or more syllable ...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
450 views

How do I say "this is mine"?

Suppose I want to say "this house is mine" in Latin. The straightforward translation, dōmus haec est mea, sounds odd to me—perhaps just because English changes its possessive pronouns in predicate ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
7 votes
2 answers
236 views

How to get "almost everything" from "vix non quaedam" in this translation of a sentence from J.J. Fux?

I'm trying to understand an English translation of a Latin sentence from J.J. Fux's Gradus ad Parnasum (written in Latin in 1725). Here is the sentence: Tuâ aviditate, quam tamen laudo, fit, ut vix ...
symplectomorphic's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
1k views

Do plural names referring to a singular thing require a plural verb?

Another question related to my geography of the Roman Empire which I am writing has arisen: during the time of Trajan, 117 AD, there were several provinces which had names in the plural, especially ...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
167 views

Idiomatic phrasing of "to the [cardinal direction] of [something]"

I am currently writing a small geography of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent (in the year 117 AD, under Emperor Trajan) in an effort to practice my composition skills. So far everything has ...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
297 views

How would I say "fallen" in a Christian sense?

Suppose I want to talk about "fallen angels": angels who (according to some Abrahamic sects) rebelled against God and were cast out of Heaven. What would be the appropriate word for this? I'm not ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
4 votes
1 answer
285 views

How would I say ‘act accordingly’ in latin

How would I say ‘act accordingly’ in Latin? This would be an instruction to act in a manner appropriate to circumstance.
Luke's user avatar
  • 41
3 votes
1 answer
80 views

How do I find uses of a word in Ecclesiastical Latin?

If I want to find a citation for a word in Classical(-ish) Latin, I might go to the Packhum Corpus, put in the stem, and weed through any spurious results. But suppose I want to know how (or if) a ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
10 votes
1 answer
781 views

Is there an aoristic-perfective distinction in the Latin perfect?

I have just recently learned that the perfect tense in Latin can serve also as an aorist tense as well as a perfect tense and that the perfect tense in Latin is simply the result of the original Proto-...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
564 views

What does "Sion respectat dominus" mean?

I want to ask a question about medieval Latin. Sion respectat dominus. Does this sentence in English mean: "The lord gives some thought to Zion"? Is this translation correct? This title is from ...
turuncu's user avatar
  • 833
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Translation of a phrase "Catch the moment, ..." to Latin

I hope someone who speaks Russian could help me in translating a phrase "Лови момент. Цени мгновение." into Latin. I'm afraid the original meaning could be lost or transformed if I translate it to ...
Alexander Zhak's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
686 views

Did Latin have any ergative verbs?

An "ergative verb" is a verb that can either take two nouns (a subject and an object) or only one (a subject), where the object of the two-noun form corresponds to the subject of the one-noun form. ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
6 votes
1 answer
71 views

Passive versus active voice for "increasing" verb

In North & Hillard Ex. 193; Q1: the following sentence is to be translated into Latin: "While the consul was absent the danger was increasing." The answer given: "dum consul aberat periculum ...
tony's user avatar
  • 8,620
5 votes
2 answers
1k views

"Blood for the Blood God" vs "Gloria In Excelsis Deo"

I play a scifi game where you build your own pieces and the language in the game is a derivative of Latin. I want to write a couple battle cries/prayers on the sides of one of my game pieces. The ...
Lance Charger's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
352 views

When and where to use which construction expressing purpose

To the best of my knowledge, the following constructions are used to express purpose in Latin: ut + [subjunctive clause] ad + [accusative gerund] ad + [accusative gerundive] + [accusative noun] [...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
194 views

Ūtāturne linguā Latīnā aliquis adverbō «ferē» velut linguā Anglicā verbō «almost» ūtimur?

Linguā Anglicā, saepe cum multīs adverbīs atque adiectīvīs, plūrima quōrum significātiōnēs absolūtās habent (exempla sunt «always» vel «everything» vel «nothing» vel «never», et cētera), adverbō «...
Ethan Bierlein's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
5k views

Etymology of "salarium" and its connection to salt

It has been asked before both in the English Language & Usage site and the Spanish Language site about the etymology of salary and salario, respectively. In both cases, this site was mentioned as ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 2,219
13 votes
1 answer
727 views

What do you call your aunt or uncle's spouse?

In Latin, a paternal aunt is an 'amita', a paternal uncle is a 'patruus', a maternal aunt is a 'matertera' and a maternal uncle is an 'avunculus'. However, what do you call each of these people's ...
Marius Vivanconus Speluncus's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
72 views

Translating "jerusalem duplici jugo gravata" into English

What does this mean? jerusalem duplici jugo gravata Ekkehard of Aura was the monk in medieval. He departed to the crusades of 1101. This sentence is from his book Hierosolimita in RHC V, PP. 1-40.
turuncu's user avatar
  • 833
4 votes
0 answers
87 views

Wondering how to translate imperfect subjunctives (in a conditional sentence)

I have to translate this sentence for homework: si verba patris a liberis non audita essent, timerent. I believe the verb form in both the protasis and apodosis is imperfect subjunctive. I am ...
TheIronKnuckle's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
270 views

Audio and video... and tango?

Audio and video are two (apparently XX-century) concepts. Both take the same form as 1st-person sing., present tense Latin verbs. Wiktionary articles for the English words (audio, video) assert that ...
Rafael's user avatar
  • 11.4k
5 votes
2 answers
171 views

What is the difference between ingenitus and innatus?

When discussing things "running in the blood", I suggested the word ingenitus for "innate", while Tom Cotton preferred innatus. Is there a difference in meaning between these two words? The second ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
3 votes
4 answers
494 views

What does "ob" mean in a money context?

"Ob" appears as a sum of money in a property list of 1598, written in Latin with lots of abbreviations. What does it mean in this context?
Tony Gale's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Translating "It runs in our blood" into Latin

I am looking for the exact Latin equivalent of: It runs in our blood. In this sentence it refers to Literature. So far, we have come to this one: Currit in sanguine nostro Feel free to change ...
Pooya Raki's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
472 views

When did the infinitive of purpose arise?

In Classical Latin, purpose would normally be expressed with ut, or ad with a gerund, or a supine with a verb of motion, or numerous other ways. However, in later and vulgar Latin (most notably the ...
Draconis's user avatar
  • 66.5k
3 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to say "Born to Heal" in Latin?

I'm planning a motto for a medical squad: "Born to Heal". I want to know it's Latin translation. Google says its "Sana natus est", but there is no way to verify that, without an expert's help.
Kalle H. Väravas's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
207 views

Latin terms in (medical) clinical letters - UK

Today I came across this news article. In short, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (in the UK) is providing new guidelines to medical doctors on the writing of clinical letters to patients. Among ...
luchonacho's user avatar
  • 12.4k
6 votes
1 answer
125 views

'videlicet': How did "it is permissible to see" semantically shift to mean "that is to say"?

How did 1 beneath semantically shift to 2? Etymonline: viz. 1530s, abbreviation of videlicet [2.] "that is to say, to wit, namely" (mid-15c.), from Latin videlicet, contraction of ...
user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do I say “everything started here”?

I would like like to translate "everything started here" in Latin. Would omni coepia hinc work?
Pedro's user avatar
  • 41
25 votes
5 answers
3k views

What did "actuālis" actually mean in Latin?

The word actual is a false friend between the Spanish and the English languages. When we say in Spanish "la hora actual" we really mean "the current time" and not "the actual time". So in Spanish we ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 2,219
3 votes
1 answer
162 views

Figuring out the grammar of Edmonds 57 (Edmonds' version of the part in cruces of Lobel-Page 46)

A bit of background on the fragment. This is a quotation by Herodian. The manuscripts, according to Bergk (frr. 56 & 82), give it as: ἐγὼ δ' ἐπὶ μαλθάκαν τύλαν σπολέω μέλεα· κἂν μέν τε τύλαγκας ...
MickG's user avatar
  • 3,275

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