32
votes
Accepted
A Latin adjective for New York?
The Catholic Church seems to use (say, Archiepiscopus) Neo-Eboracensis very
consistently. See, for example: here for 'FRANCISCUS titulo Ss. Ioannis et Pauli Presbyter Cardinalis SPELLMAN, ...
- 420
28
votes
Accepted
What gender should a predicate adjective be to agree with a series of things with different genders?
Bennett's New Latin Grammar (this link will take you to appropriate section) offers several helpful rules of thumb for the agreement of an adjective with multiple nouns.
Although I recommend reading ...
- 39.6k
17
votes
What did "actuālis" actually mean in Latin?
I'll try to answer my own question, if I may. After a bit of research I discovered that no more than 300 years ago the meaning of Spanish actual was actually the same as English actual, as seen by ...
- 2,219
16
votes
A Latin adjective for New York?
Just a few days ago I was looking up the scientific name of the Northern Waterthrush: the Parkesia noveboracensis.
The name occurs in several other names. However, I haven't found an example of it ...
- 39.6k
14
votes
Accepted
How To Say "-able" in Latin
As brianpck mentioned, the English suffix "-able" is borrowed from Latin. The rules for applying it in Latin are more transparent than the English alteration between "-able" and "-ible". EDIT: And are ...
- 65.1k
14
votes
Accepted
What is "old" in the age of a wine?
I have found three ways of referring to the age of wine, the first of which is the most common and simplest:
An adjective such as anniculus, bimus etc.
quadrimum Sabina, o Thaliarche, merum diota
...
- 8,651
14
votes
Accepted
Comparison of omnes, cuncti, and universi
Certainly there are differences between the three, which I hope the following will demonstrate with sufficient clarity.
The roots of universus indicate 'turned into one', which describes a group ...
- 18k
13
votes
The best way to say *interesting* in Latin
Well, interesting is actually quite Latin, given that it comes (I believe) from interest, which means (among other things), "it matters" or "it is of concern." So one way to do it would be to say meá ...
- 16.4k
13
votes
What is the difference between suus and eius?
All forms of se, including suus, normally refer to the subject of the main clause of the sentence. Eius, however, normally does not refer to this subject, but to someone else. So the two words have ...
- 19.8k
12
votes
How to emphasize adjectives?
Using nimis (or related words) before an adjective strengthens it, but in a specific direction: nimis frigidus is "too cold", not "very cold".
You can also reach a similar tone ...
- 111k
12
votes
Accepted
Meaning of *iuvenis*
Others pointed out the dictionary definition of iuvenis, but it would help to have a solid example. In Livy book 21.50, Ti. Sempronius met with Hiero at Syracuse.
statum deinde insulae et ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Niveus and nivosus
In general, the -osus ending indicates plenty. Lacrimosa isn't just "teary-eyed," but weepy. Same with nivosa. Niveus is often used with mountains to describe the snow-topped peaks, and from the ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
11
votes
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When were trivialis and quadrivialis introduced?
I believe the cursory etymology you stated is inaccurate. Here is what my research shows:
Medieval Latin meaning of trivium / trivialis
In the Middle Ages, the liberal arts were divided into the ...
- 39.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Is fessus a participle?
Maybe.
There is a verb fatīscō, fatīscere, —, ???, meaning to fall apart or collapse. (Sometimes it also acts like a deponent verb, fatīscor, fatīscī, with the same meaning.) But it's practically ...
- 65.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Which adjective to use for tallness of people?
All three of those adjectives are used of persons in classical Latin, in both prose and poetry. (In my own reading, though, I'm accustomed to seeing altus and procerus much more often in this context ...
- 19.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Cibus sanus — healthy food?
I think you are right that sanus more correctly describes a healthy state, whereas saluber/salubris seems to be preferred to describe those things which bestow health. Some examples:
Climate:
ex ...
- 8,651
11
votes
Accepted
Why is it "Discipulus pulcher est" and not "Discipulus pulchrus est"?
There is no word pulchrus. The word in the masculine, nominative, singular is pulcher, and it is one of the 2nd declension noun and adjectives that end in -er.
There are many adjectives of this type, ...
cmw♦
- 52.2k
11
votes
Is "necesse" an adjective or an adverb
Lewis & Short, Gaffiot, Georges and Forcellini agree that it is an adjective. Oxford appears to be alone with its opinion that it is an adverb, and I wonder if the entry itself has anything to say ...
- 33.1k
11
votes
Accepted
Why is there no case agreement between "magni" and "poetae"?
There is agreement, in fact! Both of these words are masculine genitive singular.
The trick is that poēta is a masculine noun, despite being in the first declension. So the genitive singular is -ae, ...
- 65.1k
10
votes
The best way to say *interesting* in Latin
To add to Joel Derfner's suggestion of studium excitat:
Ovid Ex Ponto IV.3.35 Excitat auditor studium, "An audience stirs interest" (translation source).
See also on the title of the Lutheran ...
- 1,223
10
votes
Accepted
Are there many irregular adjectives for the Latin comparison?
Let me mention some things to complement your and TKR's lists.
First, the adjectives iuvenis and senex have the irregular comparatives iunior and senior.
These comparatives are rarely (if ever) used ...
- 111k
10
votes
What did "actuālis" actually mean in Latin?
Per Lewis & Short:
actŭālis , e, adj. id.,
I. active, practical, Macr. Somn. Scip. 2, 17.—Adv.: ac-tŭālĭter , actively, Myth. Vatic. vol. 3, p. 181 ed. Bod.
So it wasn't particularly close ...
- 411
10
votes
Noun adjuncts in Latin
The typical choice in Latin is to derive an adjective from the noun.
I would translate "chicken soup" as ius gallinaceum.
Deriving adjectives is nontrivial but inevitable.
A genitive is a good second ...
- 111k
10
votes
Accepted
Origin of "lunatĭcus"
According to the Italian Wiktionary entry for the Italian word lunatico, lunaticus is actually a Late Latin expression and, in particular, a calque of the Greek σεληνιακός, seleniakos, and ...
- 4,438
10
votes
Is it grammatically correct to attributively use nominative forms of nouns in New Latin?
It's valid even in Classical Latin, in fact!
Generally, it's fine to put two nouns together in the nominative (or, rather, in the same case) when one of them gives the general category of a thing and ...
- 65.1k
9
votes
Are there many irregular adjectives for the Latin comparison?
Allen and Greenough list three more, but they are rare:
nequam, nequior, nequissimus "worthless"
frugi, frugalior, frugalissimus "useful"
dexter, dexterior, dextimus "on the right, handy"
- 30.9k
9
votes
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Why do some 2nd decl. "-er" adjectives and nouns drop the "e" in the stem?
This is well-known and virtually all good grammars discuss this (as vowel syncope).
Genetivus singularis helps us reconstruct the original nom.sg. form (synchronically), that's why we learn nouns in ...
- 11.6k
9
votes
The best way to say *interesting* in Latin
The English interesting etymologically comes from Latin impersonal verb meā/tuā/nostrā interest, but in Latin it is a neutral way of saying it is of interest/concern/importance (for example, tuā et ...
- 651
9
votes
Accepted
What is the Nominative of 'uniuscuiusque'?
Yes, it's unusquisque. Both parts unus and quis are declined, always in the same case.
It is a compound pronoun meaning 'each single one'.
- 18k
9
votes
Meaning of *iuvenis*
From Lewis and Short:
Subst.: jŭvĕnis, is, comm., one who is in the flower of his or her age (mostly of persons older than adolescentes and younger than seniores, i.e. between twenty and forty ...
- 65.1k
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