23
votes
Accepted
What should the corona virus be called in Latin?
A Latin professor in a classical highschool in Italy adopted the translation virus coronarium that appeared on this article of Ephemeris, an online newspaper in Latin, published on February 22. The ...
- 4,438
23
votes
Both "fēmina" and "mulier" mean "woman": what's the difference?
In Republican and early Imperial Latin, mulier was more common, and fēmina was more markedly respectful
Although it might seem surprising to speakers of modern languages where using the word "...
- 26.5k
16
votes
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In Romans 3:22, why did Jerome prefer to use crēdunt rather than fīdunt?
All translation involves some form of (hopefully minimized) loss and (hopefully undistracting) gain.
In this case, though, the choice is clear, for a very simple reason: fido is not a good ...
- 38.5k
16
votes
Most accurate Latin word for "book" in this context
Liber is that Latin word for book, and my first inclination is to go there. However, further context is needed to make an actual decision. Other options include libellum and codex.
Monumentum is most ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
15
votes
"Semitic languages" in Classical Latin
While fdb is absolutely correct that the ancient Romans had no conception of language families, we can come up with a plausible calque—a literal translation of each component of a word or phrase.
...
- 64.6k
14
votes
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What Latin word could I use to refer to a grocery store?
The word to use is probably macellum. Lewis & Short offers:
macellum, i (macellus, i, m., Mart. 10, 96, 9), n. root μαχ-; cf. Gr. μάχομαι, to fight; cf. μάχαιρα, μάχη, and mactāre; prop. butcher'...
- 16.4k
14
votes
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Saints: sanctus or divus?
Superb question!
Divus is a term used to refer to Roman deities or highly esteemed individuals (e.g. emperors). L&S give some classic Latin quotes, and you can also see books about Divus ...
- 12.3k
11
votes
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What's the difference between fessus and defessus?
Usage
Lewis and Short glosses fessus as:
wearied, tired, fatigued; worn out, weak, feeble, infirm
It lists defessus (which is the past participle of dēfĕtiscor as a synonym. It has a similar meaning:...
- 38.5k
11
votes
Accepted
What's the logic behind "eritque Israel in proverbium" (Vulgate bible)
In Hebrew, we often find the verb הָיָה (hāyâ) followed by the preposition ל prefixed to a noun used to indicate that something was made into something (i.q. Latin est factum quiddam in quiddam).
On ...
- 1,934
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 ...
- 19.1k
11
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between amare and diligere?
I will start with my comments.
Quotations follow after the line.
As you wrote, diligere is about esteem, amare is about passion.
With this in mind, I would not consider diligere colder than amare.
A ...
- 110k
11
votes
Accepted
How do you say "perhaps" or "maybe"?
forte (from fors, fortis, chance, luck etc.) simply means 'by chance'.
fortasse (sometimes fortassis) is a contraction from forte an sit, 'as it might chance to be', usually translated as 'perhaps', '...
- 18k
11
votes
Accepted
What verb is wine made with?
Cato Maior devotes a large subsection of De Agri Cultura to wine. You can read the entire text here, and as can be expected, he sticks to very simple verbs:
general:
making: vinum Graecum sic facito
...
- 1,470
11
votes
Accepted
How to say that I have used up all of something?
My first thought was exhaurire and indeed in his Epistulae Seneca writes to Lucilius:
Librum tuum quem mihi promiseras accepi. [...] exhausi totum.
I've received your book you had promised me. [...] ...
- 4,438
11
votes
Accepted
Why does Müller read "accusatius" in Satyrica 119.11?
When you see "daggers" (properly obeli) in a critical text, it means the word is (or words are) corrupt. If the editor cannot make sense of the meaning, they are obelized, which is ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
11
votes
Accepted
Does "virtus" apply to women?
Yes, they did, with some caveats. And not just women, but inanimate things as well.
Here's but one example, from Juvenal's sixth satire, showing its more neutral use with which English adopted:
......
cmw♦
- 50.7k
10
votes
Accepted
John 3:16 In Latin
The verse John 3:16 makes use of two grammatical topics which are important in both Greek and Latin: a result clause and a purpose clause. According to this, the verse can be logically divided in two. ...
- 11.9k
10
votes
In Romans 3:22, why did Jerome prefer to use crēdunt rather than fīdunt?
You can't really get into the mind of a particular author, and I do not believe Jerome ever commented on this point, but a couple notes should suffice. First, Jerome is writing for the common person, ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
10
votes
What's the logic behind "eritque Israel in proverbium" (Vulgate bible)
There are a lot of Hebraisms in Latin and Greek translations of the Old Testament, and I'm guessing this is one of them.
The Hebrew reads (diacritics omitted) we-haya Yisrael le-mashal u-le-shnina be-...
- 30.6k
10
votes
Accepted
Is "ergo" an appropriate word for this context?
Yes, it's possible, but that's not the typical construction. 'Therefore' is the best translation in this spot, starting a whole new clause that isn't immediately dependent (in a meaningful sense, ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
10
votes
Accepted
What is the superlative of ipse?
Joonas is correct: those forms don’t belong in good classical style.
Peter Stotz’s Handbuch zur lateinischen Sprache des Mittelalters mentions that Donatus explicitly forbade comparatives and ...
- 3,246
10
votes
What is the latin preposition for "Upon"?
“Call upon” is a phrasal verb, which you cannot translate by translating its constituents. The Latin translation will usually not be the same sort of verb+preposition pair as in English. You can look ...
- 31.7k
9
votes
Is "ergo" an appropriate word for this context?
Here's another approach:
Dīxistī mihi quidlibet in mundō licitum esse,
Ad saltātrīcēs prōtinus adspiciō!
In what I've read—mostly elementary materials—you can just skip the conjunction or adverb,...
- 15.8k
9
votes
What is the superlative of ipse?
Classical corpus searches suggest that ipsimus is only attested in Satyricon and ipsissimus is used once by Plautus and once by Afranius.
There are not enough attestations to decide which is correct, ...
- 110k
9
votes
What should the corona virus be called in Latin?
One option is to turn the determiner "corona" into an adjective.
That would lead to something like virus coronatum, "a crowned virus".
I think it makes sense to keep the word virus ...
- 110k
9
votes
Accepted
Difference between 'urbe' and 'oppidum'?
An urbs is a city, an oppidum is a town.
It is quite common to use urbs to refer specifically to Rome, and the linked dictionary entry even says that oppidum is used for other cities than Rome.
You ...
- 110k
9
votes
How do I best translate "A big window into history"?
Whether you say fenestra magna or magna fenestra is up to you – both is absolutely fine in Latin.
If you go with fenestra at all, I recommend using the preposition ad, because there is a precedence ...
- 31.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What would be the Latin word for an entry in a dictionary or an encyclopedia?
In New Latin lexicography, the word for an entry in a dictionary or an encylopedia is vōx, so "see the entry porcus" would be (vidē) sub vōce 'porcus', abbreviated as s.v. porcus. This ...
- 5,957
8
votes
Accepted
What would "I Discover" be in Latin?
Conperio and comperio are just variant spellings, and the same with reperio and repperio. The "normal" words though are comperio and reperio.
That said, the word I've come across the most for "I ...
cmw♦
- 50.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Can decisions be wise?
Consilium sapiens is attested by Ovid (Met. 13.433):
...Polymestoris illic
regia dives erat, cui te commisit alendum
clam, Polydore, pater Phrygiisque removit ab armis,
consilium sapiens, ...
- 10.8k
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