22
votes
Accepted
"Videre" is to "spectare" what "audire" is to...?
There is auscultō, -āre, "listen to, pay attention to, give heed to".
- 64.5k
16
votes
Does the Latin word for "garden" (hortus) also mean "vagina"?
This information is a bit difficult to find in the classic dictionaries, because they tend to be quite squeamish about explaining sexual things! But here's what Lewis and Short have to say about it.
...
- 64.5k
14
votes
Does the Latin word for "garden" (hortus) also mean "vagina"?
Yes, it has been used in this way, and no, Kohut is not making it up. Lewis and Short mention the relevant passages:
C. Like the Gr. κῆπος, i. q. pudendum muliebre, Poët. ap. Anth. Lat. I. p. 686 ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
13
votes
Accepted
What exactly do "ut" and "quid" mean in "Deus meus, ut quid dereliquisti me?" ("My God, why have you forsaken me?")?
Jerome is translating the Greek here:
ἱνατί με ἐγκατέλιπες (Mt. 27.46)
The phrase ut quid then is a translation specifically of ἱνατί (especially when spelled out separately as ἵνα τί). Both ἵνα and ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
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 ...
- 110k
11
votes
Accepted
Semantic difference of ablative and accusative cases when following "in"
Do not only look for “movement” when you see in used with the accusative. In is very versatile and has a lot of meanings that cannot be easily summed up in a few words. A good dictionary will describe ...
- 31.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Are Deponent Verbs a feature of the Latin Language or Means of Translation?
Indeed, historically deponents are descended from a middle/reflexive voice. In historical usage, though, deponents lost this, and can take a direct object. See e.g.:
te sequor
aggredior hominem
te ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
9
votes
Accepted
What underlying semantic notions explain the meaning of 'against' for the preposition 'in'?
What you've neglected (an easy thing to neglect) is the case that "in" governs with each meaning. "In" plus the ablative connotes coherence and inclusion, and it's roughly equivalent to English "in." "...
- 16.4k
9
votes
Accepted
When did "virgo" gain its sexual meaning?
As far as I can see, your basic premise is doubtful, inasmuch as classical sources appear to have defined virgo in the same way as has been done down to modern times. Certainly, the word was then ...
- 18k
8
votes
Accepted
Does "acceptam" have any inherent special meaning related to sacredness or consecration?
acceptus, -a, -um means "welcome, agreeable" and is often used with the dative, e.g. senatui, plebi, populo Romano, but also diis et hominibus, deo, etc. It is similar in meaning to gratus ...
- 31.7k
7
votes
Are Deponent Verbs a feature of the Latin Language or Means of Translation?
The morphosyntactic behavior of Latin deponent verbs differs from that of passive non-deponent verbs for a few non-finite forms/constructions, where deponent verbs are conjugated the same way as ...
- 26.5k
7
votes
Semantic differences between verbs of thinking
Champneys/Rundall have a good run down of the words. They break them down into four categories:
Think = to have an opinion
puto.
existimo.
credo.
reor.
arbitror.
opinor.
= to have an opinion and ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the difference in meaning between postposition "causa" and preposition "propter"?
The difference between causa and propter is that
propter refers to an existing objective cause or motivation for something;
causa refers to an intended purpose of an action, to be realised in the ...
- 31.7k
6
votes
Accepted
"Fighting with someone" and the different uses of "with" in Latin
With is such a versatile word in English that how's it actually being used is sometimes obscured. Consider the following:
I am going to the store with my friends.
I am making a house with the best ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
6
votes
Accepted
What nuances distinguish "minor" and "ínstó" when they mean "threaten"?
While unrelated to monere (which is instead related to memini), it seems to me that minari overlaps with it partially in the sense that the threats are warnings. This makes sense since the word comes ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Is memento(te) semantically a future imperative?
mementō is formed from the reduplicated perfect stem (IE *me-mn-), not from the present stem (IE *men-). Thus, morphologically it is a perfect imperative, not a future imperative; the latter is always ...
- 17.5k
6
votes
Are there any Latin words with sharply contrasting meanings?
My suggestion is testis, which means both "testicle" and "witness".
The two meanings of "madam" seem related; both refer to "a female with a significant status" or something like that.
The two ...
- 110k
5
votes
Accepted
Requests with 'posse'
"Questions" that are actually requests using the archaic "potin?" are numerous in Plautus, and they appear in Terence as well. I think based on the evidence that a Roman would readily understand this ...
5
votes
When to use "ac" instead of "et"?
First of all, nothing provides a better brief on the semantics of these conjunctions than a good dictionary. L&S has quite exhaustive (if not exhausting) articles on et and ac/atque. You can ...
5
votes
Is there a semantic difference between the two perfect tenses in medieval Latin?
Note: Not a direct answer, but...
According to A.G. Rigg, 'Morphologoy and Syntax' in Mantello and Rigg, eds, Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide (Washington, DC, 1996), 85:
...
- 716
4
votes
Semantic differences between verbs of thinking
(This is only a partial answer so far.)
Joseph Denooz (Denooz 2010) gives the following frequency data for the verbs mentioned in your question.
- 11.6k
4
votes
Semantic differences between verbs of thinking
I'll offer a few thoughts gleaned from the entry for glauben in Georges: kleine deutsch-lateinisches Handwörterbuch and from Smith's Copious and Critical English-Latin Dictionary. (I'd quote and ...
- 16.4k
4
votes
Accepted
What underlying semantic notions connect 'involvō' to mean 'entail'?
I don't think involvo necessitates a temporal order: for essence to involve or entail existence, it isn't necessary for existence to exist before essence existed. The order is not temporal, nor causal,...
- 19.8k
4
votes
Can aliquis function as an adjective?
I disagree with LaFeeVerte, and would like to posit that aliquis can function as an adjective. A quote from one of my favorite sources, Bennett's Latin Grammar:
Aliquis may be used adjectively, ...
- 3,958
4
votes
Accepted
"Etiam si omnes" and "Et si omnes"
The common phrase is etiam si (even if), but et can be used as a shorthand for etiam, which would be the only reasonable way of reading it in that sentence. So, there is no significant difference ...
- 6,219
4
votes
Accepted
Did "paganus" mean a non-believer before Christianity?
“Paganus” is a religious term only in Christianity, where it is a calque on ἐθνικός, which in turn is a calque on Hebrew gōyīm “nations” (thus already in the Septuagint). If you have access to jstor ...
- 17.5k
3
votes
Accepted
How did 'ex-' + 'serere' compound to signify 'thrust out, put forth'?
I may be misunderstanding what is exactly unclear here, so I am sorry if I am misinterpreting the question. The sĕro, sertus has the semantics of binding into a bunch: “wreath; join, entwine, ...
3
votes
Are there linguistic arguments for the claim that "Odi et amo" in Catullus (LXXXV) cannot be translated as 'I hate and I love'?
In English any verb which syntactically takes a subject can be reassumed by “do”. “I hate cod but she doesn’t” is perfectly natural even though no actual doing is involved.
Indeed one of the puzzles ...
- 1,448
3
votes
Accepted
Has the meaning of any Latin adjectives narrowed in a way similar to English "gay" transitioning from a meaning of "happy" to "homosexual"?
I can think of three examples, two of which may or may not fit your strict definitions.
The first is optimas. Though it can mean "aristocratic" (as a substantive, "aristocrat"), it most often in its ...
cmw♦
- 50.6k
3
votes
Has the meaning of any Latin adjectives narrowed in a way similar to English "gay" transitioning from a meaning of "happy" to "homosexual"?
Sexuality of all kinds was largely tolerated in republican Rome, and though various kinds of behaviour met with censure in some quarters, it was probably accepted as inevitable by all, if distasteful ...
- 18k
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