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.



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: TUUS



Today's word is TUUS, the possessive adjective. You can also find the adjective made emphatic with the addition of -pte or -met, as in this phrase, for example: meopte ingenio or tuismet litteris. Note also that the form tui can be used for the objective genitive of the pronoun tu, as in this line of Horace: Quo me, Bacche, rapis, tui plenum?

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:

Res tuas tibi habe.

Tuas res tibi habeto, tuas res tibi agito.

Mors tua, vita mea.

Quod tuum, tene!

Accipe quod tuum alterique da suum.

In tuum ipsius caput.

Non est tuum, Fortuna quod fecit tuum.

Nosce te; nosce animum tuum.

Scis horas; nescis tuam.

Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum.

Amicus est quem diligis ut animam tuam.

Diliges amicum tuum sicut teipsum.

Bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum.

Age officium tuum.

Cum tuus es, noli servire, nisi tibi soli.

Tua quod nil refert, ne cures.

Malum alienum tuum ne feceris gaudium.

Amici vitia si feras, facias tua.

Nunc tuum ferrum in igni est.

Utere sorte tua.





Sunday, March 27, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: VOCO



Today's word is the first-conjugation verb, VOCO (vocare), which is the verb based on the stem voc- that you can also see in the third-declension noun vox (=voc+s). You can find this same root in plenty of English words, too, such as "vocal," "vocabulary," "vocation," etc. and also in compounds such as "invocation" and "invoke," "provocation" and "provoke," etc. Via French, we end up with the words "vouch" and "voucher," and also "voice," which also derive ultimately from the Latin voc- root.

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Furem praeda vocat.

Ipsa furem cura vocat.

Vocat labor ultimus omnes.

Omnia sub leges mors vocat atra suas.

Deos ridere credo, cum felix vocat.

Ficus ficus, ligonem ligonem vocat.

Ultio ultionem vocat, et caedes caedem.

Quo fata vocant.

Miseram servitutem falso pacem vocant.

Audit vocatus Apollo.

Vocatus et non vocatus Deus est.

In patria natus non est propheta vocatus.

Multi vocati, pauci electi.

Vitium impotens virtus vocatur.

Prosperum ac felix scelus virtus vocatur.

Qui semel furatur, semper fur vocatur.

Propter portanda vocatur asellus in aula.

Malo pauper vocari quam esse.

Antequam voceris, ne accesseris.

Ne ad pugnam vocet aquilam luscinia.

Lassa crudelitas non est vocanda clementia.

Manum admoventi sunt vocanda numina.

Fac interim aliquid ipse, dein deos voca.







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Friday, March 25, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: FINIS



Today's word is FINIS (third declension, genitive finis), which of course gives us the English word "finish," making it easy to remember! Although the word is generally masculine in classical Latin, don't be upset if you find it as a feminine noun, especially in earlier and then again in later Latin. The Latin word covers a whole range of meaning, embracing the English words "boundary" and "limit," including the notion of a "finish line." In the plural, the Latin fines can mean the borders of a country and, by metonymical extension, it can mean the country itself. Note also that, just as in English, there is a metaphorical extension where finis can mean not just an end in space, but an end in time, a purpose or goal for which you are striving.

The various meanings of English "fine" also come from Latin finis, although they do not reflect classical usage. The English sense of "fine" as a "penalty" comes from the medieval Latin use of finis to refer to a tax or penalty, based on the idea that paying a penalty brings the matter to an end. This is also the origin of English words like "finance," "financial," etc. The sense of English "fine" as "excellent, high quality" is from the metaphorical extension of finis into a vertical geography, in the sense of "uppermost limit, superior, best."

There are many other English words that ultimately derive from Latin finis, such as "finite" ("infinite," "infinity") and "final" ("finality"). There are also words from compound forms of the Latin root: "affinity, " "definite" (and the oft misspelled "definitely"), and "confine."

You will also sometimes fine the Latin phrases in fine and ad finem used in written English.

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:

Amori finem tempus, non animus facit.

Omnium finis mors est.


Veri amoris nullus est finis.


Certum pete finem.


Sicut vita, finis ita.


Scribendi nullus finis.


Si finis bonus est, totum bonum est.


Cui licitus est finis, etiam licent media.


Qualis vita, finis ita.


Nescit homo finem suum.


Faciendi plures libros nullus est finis.


Mori enim naturae finis est, non poena.


Lauda finem.


Totum laudatur, si finis laude beatur.


In omnibus rebus, respice finem.


Quidquid agas, semper respice finem.


Utilem pete finem.


Mali principii malus finis.


Non statim cum principio apparet finis.


Finem vitae specta.




Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: SUM



Today's word is SUM, the famously irregular verb (esse, fui). We shouldn't be surprised that this verb is irregular in Latin, of course, since the English verb to be is also formed from different root systems: "is," "was," "been."

A great source of confusion in Latin is the similarity between the verb esse, "to be," and esse, "to eat." Although some of the forms are easy to distinguish, such as sum, "I am" and edo, "I eat," other forms are harder to distinguish, such as est, "is" and ēst, "eats," which differ only in the quantity of the vowel. In order to avoid this confusion, the verb comedo was widely used to mean "eat," instead of the uncompounded edo.

There are some words in English that are derived from the esse root of today's verb, such as "essential" and "essence." There are also English words derived from compound forms of this verb, such as "absent," "present," etc. From the f- stem, which gives both Latin fui and futurus, we get English "future." We actually use the Latin verb form interest in English, "interest."

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:

Esto quod esse videris.

Omnia mea mecum sunt.


Non possunt primi esse omnes omni in tempore.


Primus sum egomet mihi.


Quod vis videri, esto.


Omnes terra sumus.


Omnia bona mecum sunt.


Bono animo esto.


Sunt quidam non re, sed nomine homines.


Ego meorum solus sum meus.


Ubi sunt?


Ut ameris, amabilis esto.


Sumus quod semper facimus.


Non semper ea sunt quae videntur.


Omnes quae sua sunt, quaerunt.


Forti animo esto.


Homines sunt eiusdem generis.


Plures sunt res quam verba.


Mecum mea sunt cuncta.


Cuncti gens una sumus.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: ADMIROR



Today's word is ADMIROR, which is a deponent verb: admirari, admiratus sum.

Latin meaning and usage: The basic meaning of the Latin verb is to "be amazed at" something, to "wonder" at something, usually with positive connotations, so to "admire." Even though this verb has passive forms only, it can take a direct object: ingenium eius admiror.

Latin word formation: The root is mirus, "wonderful," "astonishing." The verb admiror gives the abstract noun admiratio and the adjective admirabilis.

English cognates and derivatives: Today's word gives us "admire," "admiration," and "admirable," etc. As for English "admiral," the etymology is a bit more mysterious: it seems to derive from Arabic amir-ar-rahl, "chief of the transport," but its adoption into the Romance languages and ultimately into English could very well have been influenced by the Latin admirari.

Here are some examples of the verb admiror and the noun admiratio in Latin sayings and proverbs; for more information, see the page at the Scala Sapientiae, which also contains notes on some of the proverbs cited below:

Admiratio parit scientiam.

Corrupti mores depravatique sunt admiratione divitiarum.

Neque irasci, neque admirari, sed intellegere melius est






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Saturday, March 19, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: DO



Today's word is the verb DO (dare, dedi, datus). You can get a sense of how common, and archaic, this verb is, since it has the reduplicated form: dedi. There are some other common Latin verbs that you know with this type of perfect, such as memini, cecidi, tetigi, momordi, etc. In archaic Latin there were even more reduplicated perfects that what you see in classical Latin; in Plautus, for example, you can still see the perfect for tetuli, which was supplanted by tuli in classical Latin.

The perfect form dedi gives you a clue about the etymology of the verb credo, which is actually a compound of cre (cor) and do, as you can see from the perfect form credidi. To believe something in Latin is to give your heart (mind) to it. You can also see the perfect form in other compounds of do, such as trado (tradidi), reddo (reddidi), and perdo (perdidi), etc.

In English, we actually use the Latin word data, which is the neuter plural of the participle; datum is the singular. Of course, it causes all kinds of confusion that data is a plural in English; there is an increasingly common tendency to treat data as a mass noun (singular) in English, in addition to the traditional use of data in the plural.

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

Deus omnia non dat omnibus.

Do ut des.


Qui non habet, ille non dat.


Cui des videto.


Deus dat cui vult.


Nihil dat qui non habet.


Cui multum datum est, multum quaeretur ab eo.


Da, si vis accipere.


Dare Deo accipere est.


Quod datur, accipe.


Petenti dabitur.


Qui petit a te, da ei.


Accipe quod tuum alterique da suum.


Frater est amicus quem nobis dedit Natura.


Nox dabit consilium.


Date, et dabitur vobis.


Petite, et dabitur vobis.


Non cunctis dat cuncta deus.


Gratis accepistis; gratis date.


Quae gratis accepimus, gratis demus.


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: TOTUS



Today's word is the adjective TOTUS. Although this is basically a first-second declension adjective, note that it has an irregular genitive for all genders: totius. You can see this Latin root in the English word "total" (which is actually from the late Latin adjective totalis). You can sometimes see the Latin phrase in toto used in English.

It is important to note that in Latin this adjective is used where we might use an adverb instead. For example, totus gaudeo, "I am completely happy."

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Tota erras via.

Toto caelo erras.


Tota vita dies unus.


Tota vita hominis, unus est dies.


Tota vita flebilis est.


Tota vita discendum est mori.


Vivere tota vita discendum est.


Civis totius mundi.


Patria mea totus hic mundus est.


Pauca sed ex toto corde.


Tota in minimis exsistit natura.


Scabiosa ovis totum inquinat gregem.


Lingua maculat totum corpus.


Est gula totius fons et origo mali.


Unius peccata tota civitas luit.


Totum me, Fortuna, vicisti.


Fortuna nos vincit, nisi tota vincitur.


Qui totum vult, totum perdit.


Qui nimium petit, totum perdit.


Virtus in usu sui tota posita est.


Suum cuique tribuere tota est aequitas.


Furtivus potus plenus dulcidine totus.


Principium dimidium totius est.


Si finis bonus, totum laudabile.


Totum laudatur, si finis laude beatur.


Toto devorato bove, in cauda defecit.


Aurea libertas toto non venditur orbe.


Ne totam substantiam uni credamus navi.


Orbem iam totum victor Romanus habebat.







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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: TERRA



Today's word is the noun TERRA. The word means "earth" in the general sense of earth as opposed to sky, and it also means "land," in the sense of ground, the soil beneath our feet, and also in the sense of a country or region. The phrase orbis terrarum was commonly used to refer to the whole world.

There are few English phrases that actually contain this Latin word, such as "terra incognita" or "terra firma." Via Italian, we get "terra-cotta." There are also many English words derived from the Latin such as "subterranean," "terrain" and "territory." The dog breed "terrier" is so named because the dogs were trained to chase their quarry, such as badgers, into their underground burrows. The word "terrace" originally referred to a platform built for walking across a mound of earth, hence the name. And don't forget the great science fiction adjective, "Terran."

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:

Omnes terra sumus.

Terra es, et in terram ibis.

Nihil in terra sine causa fit.

Terra corpus est, at mens ignis.

Qui de terra est, de terra loquitur.

Nihil novum super terram.

Sol stat, sed terra movetur.

Redditur terrae corpus.

Sit tibi terra levis.

Omnia de terra facta sunt et in terram pariter revertentur.

Terrae, ad quam pergis, cape mores, quos ibi cernis.

Omnes homines terra et cinis.

Non est ad astra mollis e terris via.

Terra amat imbrem.

Amicitia vera, rara avis in terra.

Alia terra alios mores postulat.

Vox sanguinis clamat de terra.

Novos caelos et novam terram expectamus, in quibus iustitia habitat.

Omne quod exoritur, terra fit et moritur.

Diligite iustitiam, qui iudicatis terram.


Sunday, March 13, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: FESTINO



Today's word is FESTINO, a first-conjugation verb meaning "make haste, hurry." Although the verb is very common in latin, I don't think it has yielded any English words. If anyone can think of some examples, though, let me know! In addition to the Latin verb, there is the noun festinatio, the adjective festinus, the adverb festinanter, etc.

There are many different kinds of constructions using this verb. You can see it used with an ut clause or with an infinitive. You can also use the verb with a direct object: nuptias festinare, for example. You can also see it used with a prepositional phrase: Ad rem festinemus, for example, "Let's get hurry and get down to business!"

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Festina lente.

Festinare nocet.


Canis festinans caecos edit catulos.


Qui festinat ad divitias, non erit insons.


Ne festines locupletari, ne celerius fias pauper.


Eheu! Quam festinant dies.


Lupus ante clamorem festinat.


Dum festino omnia celeriter percurrere, tardior sum.


Qui plus satis festinat initio, serius ad finem pervenit.


Festinans ad duo diversa, neutrum bene peragit.

Animo cupienti nihil satis festinatur.

Festinata maturitas celerius occidit.

Festinus intellege, tardus loquere.

Qui festinus est pedibus, offendet.

Ut famam acquiras, festinus desere lectum.

Melior est gradus lentior per iter rectum, quam velocitas festina per devium.

Festinatio tarda est.

Festinatio nimia hominem retardat.


Omnis festinatio est a diabolo.


Festinatio improvida est et caeca.


Festinationis error comes et paenitentia.


Festinationis comites esse solent error et paenitentia.


Patientia est clavis gaudii; festinatio autem clavis paenitentiae.













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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: AT



Today's word is the conjunction AT. As a conjunction, at conveys the idea both of addition and also qualification or contrast, which can be translated with English "moreover" or "but," although it is hard to find an exact English equivalent for the Latin. The best way to get familiar with Latin at is to study the context each time you find the word, seeing how it is used to introduce the new, contrasting, surprising, qualifying idea that builds on the previous statement.

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

At spes non fracta.

Non verbis, at factis opus est.

Terra corpus est, at mens ignis est.

Loqui nescit, at tacere non potest.

Dicendo ineptus, at silere non potest.

Mederis aliis, ipse at ulceribus scates.

Loquere quidem, at ne tangito.

Poscunt fidem secunda, at adversa exigunt.

Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo.

Est lingua quibusdam, molares at aliis.

Omnes cupimus, at non licet ditescere.

Ditescere omnes volumus, at non possumus.

Bene vivere omnes volumus, at non possumus.

Ficus avibus gratae, at plantare nolunt.

Non vivimus ut expetimus, at ut possumus.

Robur confirmat labor, at longa otia solvunt.

Dum umbra fugit, homo transit, at Deus est.

Mons monti non miscetur, at vero homo homini.

Propositum mutat sapiens, at stultus inhaeret.

Honores mutant mores, at non saepe in meliores.

Clitellam plectis, at fuerat plectendus asellus.

Asino quis fabulam narrabat: at ille movebat aures.

Tenacissima iniuriae memoria, at beneficii brevissima.




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Verbum Hodiernum: ALIUS



Today's word is ALIUS, one of the sneakier adjectival pronouns in Latin. It is important to note some of the irregularities in its declension, such as the neuter singular nominative and accusative aliud and the dative singular for all genders alii, plus the fact the the genitive singular is alterius, from a different Latin adjective, alter. You can see a complete declension at the Wiktionary. In general, alius is used to mean "the other, another" from among many, while alter usually refers to the other of just two.

The same root as in alius appears in the Latin adverbs alias and also in alibi, both of which have been adopted as English words. Latin alias means "in another time, in another place," and in English it has come to mean specifically "by another name." Latin alibi means "somewhere else, in another place," and in English it means the legal plea that you were elsewhere when some event took place, making you innocent of any direct involvement. You can also see the word alius in the Latin abbreviation used in English: et al., which stands for "and others" (et alii or et alia).

There are many idiomatic uses of the word alius in Latin. Combined with atque or ac, the word can mean "other than," as in this say, Alia dicis ac sentis, "You say one thing and think another." You can also see it used with quam or nisi to mean "other than," as in the phrase nihil aliud quam, "nothing other than..." The word alius is also frequently used in distributive clauses, where we would say "one... another..." in English, or "some... others..." in the plural. For example, consider this proverb Alius alio nequior, "One is more wicked than the other." Here is an example in the plural: Alia aliis placent, "Some people like some things, other people like other things" - although the Latin sure is more economical in that last example!

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:

Dis aliter visum.

Non sibi, sed aliis.


Alia dicunt, alia faciunt.


Aliud est velle, aliud posse.


Alii alio modo.


Bonus esse non potest aliis malus sibi.


Aliter cum aliis agendum.


Aliter enim cum alio agendum.


Tanti eris aliis, quanti tibi fueris.


Alii homines, alii mores.


Alia tempora, alii mores.


Artes aliis aliae.


Virtute - non aliter.


Fac aliis sicut tibi.


Oculus videns alia, seipsum non videt.


Aliud legunt pueri, aliud viri, aliud senes.


Aetas alia ex alia oritur.


Alia ex aliis mala oriuntur.


Aliis si licet, tibi non licet.

Alia aliis placent.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: OLEUM



Today's word is OLEUM, which is a second-declension neuter noun.

Latin meaning and usage: The word oleum means "oil," especially "olive oil." We are used to the importance of olive oil in the kitchen, but for the ancient Romans, oil was also an important part of the bath ritual and oil was also used to anoint the bodies of wrestlers - as if wrestling were not a difficult enough sport already! Recall also that oil was used for lamps in the ancient world.

Latin word formation: Compare the Latin word for oliva, olea.

English cognates and derivatives: Most obviously, we get the English word "oil" from this Latin word, but there are some other interesting words that come to us from Latin oleum. For example, there is English "linoleum," a compound of linum, "flax, linen" and oleum; originally, "linoleum" referred to a linseed oil preparation that was used to manufacture floor coatings, and only later did it come to refer to the actual floor covering material that we know today as "linoleum." In chemistry, the -ol suffix usually refers to alcohols, but it can also come oleum as most famously in "petroleum" or, in British English, "petrol." Compare also "lanolin," a word that is a combination of Latin lana, "wool" and the -ol suffix from oleum. So too "menthol," which is mint oil. The -ol in English "gasoline" also derives from oleum. You may also have heard the term "oleo" or "oleomargarine" in English, although now we usually just say "margarine."

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:

Oleum in ignem.

Oleum camino addis.

Ingrato benefaciens perdit oleum et operam.

Since I don't have many proverbs to offer, let me share this fable of Mercury and the dog, which involves oleum (fable source):

789. Mercurius et Canis. Stabat in via Mercurius quadrangularis, imus cui subiacebat lapidum acervus. Accedens canis “Primum, salve,” inquit, “Mercuri; tum inungere te volo, nec sic Deum praeterire eumque palaestritam.” Cui Deus, “Si mihi hocce, quod adpositum est, non linges oleum, nec imminxeris mihi, gratiam habebo tibi. Neque me amplius honorare velis.”







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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: STO



Today's word is the verb STO (stare, steti, status), which has the basic meaning of "stand" or "stay." It can also have the metaphorical meaning of "stand firm," "withstand," etc. The history of this word in the Romance languages is of tremendous importance, as it comes to have the general meaning of "to be," existing side by side with the Latin esse, with subtle differences in meaning, as in Italian sto versus sono, both meaning "I am."

There are all kinds of words in English that are derived from today's word, such as "state," "estate," "station," "status" and "stature," as well as "statue" and "statute," and also "stance" and "stable." There are also words in English that come from Latin compounded forms of today's word, such as "circumstance," "constant," "distant," "instant," "substance," etc. An interesting one is "contrast," which is from contrastare. The English word "stage" comes from Old French estage, from Late Latin staticum.

The subjunctive Latin stet is sometimes used in editorial writing to mean, "let it stand (as written)." We also use the Latin phrase status quo.

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Suis stat viribus.

Stat sua cuique dies.


Stat magni nominis umbra.


Stat contra ratio.


Hora fugit, stat ius.


Fata regunt orbem; certa stant omnia lege.


Non segnis stat, remeatve dies.


Caelum stat, terra movetur.


Sol stat, sed terra movetur.


Crux stat, dum volvitur orbis.


In medio stat veritas.


In medio stat virtus.


Deum colenti stat sua merces.


Cum fortuna statque caditque fides.


Summum non stat sine infimo.


Bene qui stat, non moveatur.


Qui stat, videat ne cadat.


Si stas, ne cadas.


Uno nemo potest in pede stare diu.


Non datum est summis imperiis stare diu.


Decet imperatorem stantem mori.


Nec invideamus altius stantibus.


Inter sacrum saxumque sto.


Stet fortuna domus!







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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: PHILOSOPHUS



Today's word is PHILOSOPHUS, a Greek word meaning "lover of wisdom," adopted into Latin. We have also adopted the Greek word (via Latin) into English as "philosopher." There is also a noun philosophia, meaning "philosophy."

All the vowels in Latin philosophus are short, and the "ph" represents a single consonant in the Greek alphabet (the letter phi, φ), so the stress in the Latin word is on the antepenultimate syllabus, philósophus.

In addition to the familiar word "philosopher," you can see the Latin word philosophia itself in the abbreviation PhD, Philosophiae Doctor. Plus, here is a bit of related Greek trivia: The honor society Phi Beta Kappa is a Greek abbreviation of Φιλοσοφία Βίου Κυβερνήτης (philosophia biou kybernetes), "philosophy, guide of life."

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Barba tenus philosophus.

Barba non facit philosophum.

Video barbam et pallium; philosophum nondum video.

Barba non facit philosophum, neque vile gerere pallium.

Si philosophum oporteat ex barba metiri, hircos primam laudem ablaturos.

Sile et philosophus esto.


Si tacuisset, philosophus mansisset.

Verus philosophus est amator Dei.

Tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est.

Philosophi autem in suis lectulis plerumque moriuntur.

Liberis enim verbis loquuntur philosophi.

Inanes sententiae philosophorum.

Nihil tam absurde dici potest quod non dicatur ab aliquo philosophorum.

Plus potest negare asinus quam probare philosophus.

Facilius inter philosophos quam inter horologia conveniet.


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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Verbum Hodiernum: SANCTUS



Today's word is SANCTUS, the perfect participle of the verb sancire, meaning "to render sacred," so sanctus is that which is sacred or blessed. In Christian Latin, it acquires the special meaning of "saint," and the English word "saint" is ultimately derived from Latin sanctus. This is a word that was widely used in classical Latin, though, even before its special importance in Christian Latin; for a sense of the range of Roman uses of the word, take a look at the Lewis & Short dictionary entry.

From the same Latin root we also get the English words "sanction," "sanctuary," "sanctify," "sacrosanct," etc.

Here are some examples of today's word in Latin sayings and proverbs:

Si radix sancta, et rami.

Sanctus amor patriae dat animum.

Amicitiae sanctum et venerabile nomen.

Sanctissimum est meminisse, cui te debeas.

Sancta sancte tractanda sunt.

Qui conversatur cum sanctis, sanctus erit.

Non poscunt sancti quod negatur a Deo.

Non omnis Martinus sanctus.

Non omnes sancti qui calcant limina templi.

Non omnes sancti sunt qui delubra deorum intrant.

Hypocrita non appetit sanctus esse, sed vocari.

Vincit sanctos dira libido.

Corrumpunt etiam sanctos commercia prava.

Sancta sanctorum.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus.

Spiritus Sanctus te illuminet.

In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.


Pretiosa est in oculis Domini mors sanctorum eius.














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