All Questions
6,485
questions
11
votes
2
answers
1k
views
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'...
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. ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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 "...
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? ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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"...
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?...
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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
1
answer
336
views
How do you say 'tidy up'?
How could the verb phrase 'tidy up' be put in Latin please?
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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-...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
...
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 ...
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 ...
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]
[...
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 «...
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
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 ...
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.
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 ...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
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 ...