Thursday, March 31, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: PLUS



Today's word is PLUS, the Latin adverb which we also use as a word in English, too! The form plus, "more," is the comparative form of the adverb multum, "much." The opposite of plus in Latin is minus, just as in English; the phrase plusve minusve is the Latin equivalent of "more or less." As a comparative, you can find plus used with quam to express the object of comparison, e.g. valet salus plus quam libido.

Just as multum can take a partitive genitive, the same is true of plus, e.g. pecuniae plus, "more (of) money."

Like multum, plus is actually a neuter singular form, and it can also appear in the genitive singular: pluris. This is commonly used to express what is called the "genitive of value," so pluris can mean "of greater (value)."

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs; for more information, see the page at the Scala Sapientiae, which contains notes on some of the proverbs cited below, as well as additional proverbs:

E pluribus unum.

Plus potest plurium cura.

Plures sunt res quam verba.

Plus vident oculi quam oculus.

Res plus valent quam verba.

Plus valent oculi quam oculus.

Plus valet actum quam scriptum.

Fortuna hominibus plus quam consilium valet.

Fortuna nulli plus quam consilium valet.

Plus legibus arma valent.

Unus Deus, sed plures amici parandi.

Nemo dat quod non habet, nec plus quam habet.

Cedendum pluribus.

Vincere cor proprium plus est quam vincere mundum.

Plus aliis de te, quam tu tibi, credere noli.

Quisque semet plus amico diligit.

Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis.

Qui plus appetit, omnia perdit.

Natura uno ad plura utitur.

Plus est quam poena sine spe miserum vivere.



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