Latin Learning Daily

 Gravitas is the amount of power you would have in Roman politics and society. It’s the weight that your name carries. Our scientific word for downward acceleration of terrestrial bodies only came into use in the 1620’s. Gravitas is a noun and is third declension, case is nominative and it singular in number. It’s gender is feminine. 

 Next time you go to your fridge to get a snack you can think about how wonderful Latin is. Frigidus is an adjective and it’s comparison is positive. It’s in the first declension and is nominative in case. It’s number is singular and lastly it’s gender is masculine.

 Here is a prime example of how Latin and Greek interact with each other in the Roman psyche. Deus is of Latin origin whereas Theo of Greek.  The use of the “A” at the beginning of the word designates that [a person] is without God.  in English it would translate to Atheist.

 “Eheu fugaces labuntur anni”  “Alas, the fleeting years slip by” Can you believe it is already 2021? Whatever happened to 89BC? How true this is.  One interesting thing this quote demonstrates is the use of the interjection “Eheu” which didn’t exactly translate to alas. Eheu is more like an exclamation of grief, pain, or fear.

There is a lot of utility to learning Latin. Utilitas in Latin means usefulness or advantage or utility in English.  

“In virtute sunt multi ascensus.”  “In Virtue there are many degrees in excellence.” This is a great Latin quote, but it could also just be the same as one’s mom saying “your standards of cleaning the bathroom are not as high as mine.” I think we’ve pretty much all heard a version of that growing up.  In any event, there are levels of excellence and we can always strive to do and be better.   

 Some words in Latin are the same as in English. “Clamor” is one of these words. “Clamor” is a great noise or commotion. In elder days however, the connotation would have been quite a bit different than it it now. Today when we think of the word Clamor we think of  pot and pans falling, but in antiquity it would have meant the clamor of war. It would have been the crash of metal weapons and the bellows of horses. Some older books and translations of ancient works translates clamor in that way.

 Here is one of those word that are so basic we never really think about it until we are learning a foreign language. “Nos” is one of those words that tells the reader or hearer who is included in the intentions of the speaker or writer. It’s “we” a group of people in which I am included.  “Nos” is a plural of “Ego” which is Latin for I or myself.  Their is a tale contained In Homer’s Odyssey about Odysseus where he is trapped in the Cyclop’s cave and he tells the Cyclops that his name is Nemo which means no one. When Odysseus attacks the cyclops to escape the cave. The Cyclops scream out to his friend for help saying “No one is attacking me.”  Hence the phrase from “Nemo Nostrum” means “We are no one.”

 Learning Latin can be frustrating at times. That’s a little younger-in-cheek humor for you. It’s interesting how understand the origins of a word and it’s nuisances can help a person define a word better and even get a more fine sense of what they’re feeling or thinking.  If you are feeling frustrated, it might be more than just feeling sad or irritated. Knowing it’s Latin meaning suggests you might be feeling that what you are doing isn’t producing results! Or at least producing the results that you want.  Say you are cooking rice on the stove and it burns. It would be natural to feel frustrated because your efforts in making dinner were frustrated. Very interesting, right?

 I cannot stress enough how great Latin is for the soul and the mind. It’s just so educational. It didn’t mater if you’re a collage student going to Oxford  or a professional in the business world, Latin is still applicable.  One of my favorite aspects of the language is it is a gateway to better understanding pieces of wisdom known by the ancient philosophers, statesmen, Generals, and even Farmers. Cicero, of course, is one of the greatest figures in Roman history of not the world.  This quote is of particular pertinence today. How many times do we see politicians ignoring the public welfare to push forward their own agenda? All to often.  Although we can’t always control what other people do, we can always oversee our own actions. We should always make sure we are benefiting our fellow man whenever we can. 

 Here is a fascinating Latin word with a lot of history. In Classical Latin Credo simply meant “I Believe.” In the progress of history however, and with the rise of the Christians. “Credo” became a noun and not a verb because a credo was a set of predetermined beliefs that a person adheres to. It’s so interesting how much of an affect history has on the evolution of language. The two really go hand and hand. Studying them together helps to give a student a more nuanced education. Don’t you agree!

What words do you recognize in this quote? Some common ones are “Lupus” meaning wolf, “non” meaning no or not, “timet” meaning afraid, and “canem” meaning dog. Knowing these vocabulary words will give you an idea of what the sentence is trying to say.  The translation is “The wolf is not afraid of the barking dog.” If we knew what Latrantem meant we would have already had a good idea of what this proverb was trying to say even if we had a limited knowledge of grammar.  This is an excellent proverb which conveys a great truth which is so very applicable.

 By show of hands, who loves music? Music can smooth the troubled soul or can get you pumped up for the big game. In history, it took musical theory a long time to get to the fully fledged science it is today. Ancient Rome didn’t even know about all the possible notes and any music they had would have been in the pentatonic scale discovered by Pythagorus. It’s important to remember that the ancient Romans considered lots of things to be musical and not just something with a backbeat and a tune. Poetry, art, or a scientific pursuit. In fact the word “musica” is derived from the word “muse.” The muses were ancient deities in charge of enlightening men’s minds with art,

 A simple Latin quote like this one helps to show how the grammar works in a simple way without getting overwhelmed by the structure of an entire work. Even if you’re just beginning your journey into the grand language of Latin you can pick up little details in the sentence. One detail I would point out is the word “si.” In Latin is a conditional. It means “If”. Conditionals can be confusing to translate because they could have different meanings. What is Caesar really doing? 

 This particular Latin word just sounds cool! Mox. Mox. Mox. Next time you are in the car and it’s taking forever to travel and someone asks “Are we there yet?” You can just say “Mox.”

 Here’s another word of the day for you folks out there. Hopefully as you either learn new words or reacquaint yourself with old ones you will be able to understand more of what you read in Latin texts as well as have an easier time with Latin grammar and parsing.  Did you know that the word “Puer” is the root word that the English word “Puerile” comes from? Puerile means to act childish or juvenile.  Etymology is so interesting!

Latin is the foundation of so many languages today including English. Many of the words found in English have Latin origins. The English word Urban, meaning city, comes from the Latin Urbs. Additionally, in the ancient Roman Empire, when any one referred to a city offhanded, they were likely referring to THE city, or the city of Rome.

 Because Latin is a dead language it can be hard to get any practice writing or speaking the language. One of the cons of this fact is that most people struggle to be exposed to vocabulary. One of our goals is to help people learn more vocabulary in an easy way as their scrolling through Instagram and other social media sites. The post above is a great example of this.

 What does it mean to be a student of Latin? This quote above is a great example of the framer of Latin and translates to “Let us Learn the Latin Language”. I hope we can have a great journey together as we explore this fascinating language.