18 votes
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What colours did different colour words mean, exactly?

This might not be the best question to ask for this format chiefly because there are so many color words in Latin, and their meanings are not always as simple and exact as English would have you ...
cmw's user avatar
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18 votes
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Is the prefix "di-" more Latin-like than "bi-"?

di- is Greek and bi- is Latin The Proto-Indo-European root for "two" is reconstructed as *dw-. The remnants of this w can be seen in English "two", Russian dva, Ancient Greek δύο, ...
Draconis's user avatar
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15 votes

What does "tom. i." mean?

tomus primus = "volume one".
fdb's user avatar
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12 votes

Is the prefix "di-" more Latin-like than "bi-"?

Your are confused; bi- is Latin and di- is Greek. There is no real difference in meaning between them, but in usage bi- is used with Latin constructions like bisexual and di- with Greek constructions ...
varro's user avatar
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11 votes
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On the etymology of “discipulus” and “disciplina”

De Vaan (2008) says that the etymology is uncertain and that both of the theories you mentioned have problems. He bases this on the two most commonly consulted etymological dictionaries of Latin, ...
Cerberus's user avatar
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11 votes
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Olympic oath : The crown or death (?)

The particular words you were looking for are ἢ στέφος ἢ θάνατον ("either the crown or death," in the accusative case; θάνατος would be the nominative case if detached from its original ...
b a's user avatar
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10 votes
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Citation needed for "Casta placent superis..."

It is from Albius Tibullus (died 19 BC), Book II, 1. It would be a little surprising to find the superi in the Vulgate. It means “the heavenly gods” (as opposed to the gods of the underworld). John ...
Sebastian Koppehel's user avatar
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Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts

The UK National Archive runs a two part course which gives immediate feedback and quickly introduces .1. dating of mss .2. different styles of writing (book script, private notes, .3. post classical ...
Hugh's user avatar
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9 votes

What colours did different colour words mean, exactly?

A fantastic read if you're aimed down that rabbit hole would be Guy Deutscher, Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages, New York 2010. He quotes "Lyons, J. 1999. ...
Tatjana Heuser's user avatar
9 votes
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Looking for the source of Cicero quote

Though the wording of the article is unclear, the reference to Sextus Empiricus is only to the question of how many schools the "Academy" has ramified into. This a direct (albeit somewhat ...
brianpck's user avatar
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8 votes
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Understanding a reference to Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum

I haven't completely figured out the book's layout, but it appears that it contains both volumes IX and X. In any case, the numbering starts over at index #160 (pg. 4), and the entry you're looking ...
Expedito Bipes's user avatar
8 votes
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Colors of the rainbow

Since a rainbow is a gradient, there's still no way of knowing which hue a color word refers to. At best we can approximate. Earl Anderson's Folk-Taxonomies in Early English has a good discussion if ...
cmw's user avatar
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8 votes
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Ancient sources for singing in a bath

Found one reference! Petronius, Satyricon, 73 Deinde ut lassatus consedit, invitatus balnei sono diduxit usque ad cameramos ebrium et coepit Menecratis cantica lacerare, sicut illi dicebant, qui ...
brianpck's user avatar
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8 votes
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What is the largest known piece of Etruscan literature?

My guess would be their religious works, particularly pertaining to divination. In his De Divinatione 33.72, Cicero mentions these books: Quorum alia sunt posata in monumentis et disciplina, quod ...
Draconis's user avatar
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8 votes
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On the etymology of Lacedaemon

Unfortunately, we just don't know. There is no clear Greek etymology for it, not just the initial Lake- part, but the whole word. This is from Beekes' etymological dictionary: Λακεδαίμων, -ονος [f.] ...
cmw's user avatar
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7 votes

Is there a Latin source for "He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"?

I can't find the exact phrase but perhaps the following capture the spirit of it. nemo risum praebuit qui ex se cepit no one becomes a laughing-stock who laughs at himself Seneca, De ...
Penelope's user avatar
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6 votes

Books of reading medieval Latin manuscripts

There is one book that you would find more useful than any other, and that is a Latin Bible. The internet provides access to Manuscripts from the British Library, and the Beinecke (Yale), and the ...
Hugh's user avatar
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6 votes
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Are there literary attestations of werewolves in the Classical period?

Here's an example I remember, Verg., Ecl., 8, 96 Has herbas atque haec Ponto mihi lecta venena ipse dedit Moeris; nascuntur plurima Ponto. His ego saepe lupum fieri et se condere silvis ...
kkm -still wary of SE promises's user avatar
6 votes
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How to translate Ἀγαθῶν ἓνεκα οὐ γίνεσθαι

Using the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, I was unable to find that sequence of words in Plato (or elsewhere). I'm also having trouble locating that exact thought in Plato. The closest direct reference I ...
brianpck's user avatar
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5 votes

Is there a canonical list of Latinized names?

I think English-Latin dictionaries are your best choice here. For instance, this dictionary has 6 pages of "Christian names" (and some surnames) in Latin. Other examples are pages 311-2 of this ...
luchonacho's user avatar
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5 votes

Citation needed for "Casta placent superis..."

The two lines are an elegiac couplet. This poetic form was common in classical Latin, but not used in the Bible at all. As very little Christian literature has been written in this metre, it is likely ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
5 votes

Where can I look up Mycenaean words?

For mapping Mycenaean Greek words to their meanings, the Linear B Lexicon has a searchable list of terms. Here's the entry for a-ja-me-no: a-ja-me-no Chadwick & Ventris 1973: inlaid masculine ...
Expedito Bipes's user avatar
5 votes
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Learning Latin through Aeneid (or another text)

Well, there's Latin Via Ovid (2nd ed. 1982): From the publisher's website: Using an introduction to mythology by the master storyteller Ovid himself, the authors have prepared a unique teaching tool ...
cmw's user avatar
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4 votes

Is there a Latin source for "He who is able to laugh at himself, is invincible"?

I don't recall seeing that saying anywhere, but here is a translation suggestion: Insuperabilis est qui se ridere potest. One might expect ridere sibi instead of ridere se, but ridere appears to ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
4 votes
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Information on the Penates

There is a whole book in Latin on the topic: https://books.google.it/books?id=PGhXAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=it#v=onepage&q&f=false The title is De diis Romanorum patriis sive ...
Shootforthemoon's user avatar
4 votes
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Using genitive and infinitive to describe characteristics

Allen & Greenough §343 also lists it as a type of possessive genitive, giving a few examples. Note that this use of the genitive in the predicate is used with infinitives and with clauses: ...
brianpck's user avatar
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4 votes

A textbook for Latin

This isn't a definitive "these are the must haves for learning Latin" list, but these are the texts that I have used in the past for my learning. I was first introduced to Latin through Cambridge ...
Sam K's user avatar
  • 3,958
4 votes

Reference for "divide et impera"

In Caesar the most relevant passage is the following from Book 2 of the Gallic Wars: Ipse Diviciacum Haedum magnopere cohortatus docet necesse esse manus hostium distineri, ne cum tanta multitudine ...
Tyler Durden's user avatar
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3 votes

How do I access the Oxford Latin Dictionary online?

First of all, you must have an institutional subscription to the Latin content on Oxford Scholarly Editions Online. You don’t need to download anything. “Select any word in a Latin text and a pop-...
Alex B.'s user avatar
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3 votes

Two Sappho-related reference requests

Puglia 2007 As announced in his comment, AlexB got ahold of Puglia 2007, sent it to the mods, and our tricipitous mod forwarded it to me. I read it, and I can now answer that part of this question. So,...
MickG's user avatar
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