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Questions tagged [latin]

Questions about the use of Latin words and phrases in English. For questions purely about Latin, visit our sister site Latin Language Stack Exchange.

Questions about the use of Latin words and phrases in English.

For questions purely about Latin, visit our sister site Latin Language Stack Exchange.

440 questions
17
votes
4 answers

Latin plurals when talking about fallacies

I have read multiple questions on this site on Latin plurals, and I’ve learned that you can use both English plurals and Latin plurals with words which originate from Latin (e.g. referendum - referenda/​referendums). I however have a somewhat…
JohnPhteven
  • 936
8
votes
3 answers

Is it acceptable to mix Latin with English?

Is it acceptable to mix small amounts of Latin with English? Right now, ________ is persona non grata. Is this proper English?
user11550
7
votes
3 answers

Using "inter alia" in non-legal language?

I've been reading many opinions from the United State Supreme Court and discovered the phrase "inter alia," meaning "among other things." I have not encountered this phrase outside of these opinions. Is the phrase "inter alia" primarily localized…
templatetypedef
  • 1,338
5
votes
1 answer

Latin-derived terms for directions

If dextrad, sinistrad, and mediad mean towards the right, left, and middle respectively, what would the related terms be for up and down/top and bottom?
RakeMerger
  • 53
4
votes
2 answers

Should the abbreviated forms of Latin terms be placed in italics?

When writing English, one often uses Latin terms, such as exemplī grātiā, opere citātō, and id est, but in abbreviated forms, "e.g.", "op. cit.", and "i.e.". When writing Latin terms in English, one often places them in italics. Should the…
Village
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4
votes
2 answers

When (if ever) to use plural form of Homo sapiens?

Which should I say? These are two fine Homo sapiens. or These are two fine Homines sapientes. (Assume I insist on using the Latin Homo sapiens in my sentence, for whatever reason. Edit to elaborate: For example, for ironic effect or humor or as…
user38936
3
votes
2 answers

Names of some months don't make sense

I'm not a native English speaker but I'm always trying to do my best. Unfortunately I have a real problem with dates for some odd reason, I couldn't learn when was my birthday until I was 12 years old. Anyway, as I was learning names of the months…
Jinx
  • 133
2
votes
2 answers

Modus vivendi, modus praevalentis

As you may know, when two states fail to come to permanent treaty terms, they may agree for the time being to a modus vivendi, an interim memoradum of indefinite term specifying usually mutually unsatisfactory but nevertheless tolerable conditions…
thb
  • 995
1
vote
0 answers

Use of 'e pluribus' as an adjective and meaning?

I came across a sentence that uses 'e pluribus' as an adjective. I can't give the exact sentence, but it's something like 'They have many e pluribus quizzes'. Is this commonplace, and what is its meaning? Thank you!
Lisa
  • 111
1
vote
1 answer

Can one use two names with `et al.`?

It is well known that "Green et al." can be used to refer to the authors of a paper. Assuming that the number of authors is greater than three, can one use "Green, Grey et al." to explicitly list two authors' last names to refer to all authors?
xuhdev
  • 601
0
votes
1 answer

Is there an equivalent phrase to "a priori" and "a posteriori" to indicate "during"?

If a priori means "ahead of time" and a posteriori means "after the fact", is there a latin phrase to denote "during the course of the fact"? A periori, perhaps? Or am I just making things up?
Louis Thibault
  • 123
0
votes
0 answers

How do Latin etymons that end in English in *-tion* nearly always name a process?

I don't think the emboldening is correct, because -ing gerunds name a process. See https://english.stackexchange.com/a/444498. -tion just names a result of that process. What do you think?         In English and many other languages the word for…
user409391
0
votes
1 answer

My family's heritage is french Canadian

I know that French is a romance language and my family's culture is Latin, When my grandmother was alive and younger she was able to choose Latin American in the United States census, My question is what happened when our family crossed the border…
Roland Smith
  • 9
  • 1
0
votes
3 answers

Where does "vice-a-versa" come from?

I believe the correct term is "vice versa", but occasionally I hear "vice-a-versa" being said. Is there any explanation for that pronunciation?
VortixDev
  • 111
0
votes
3 answers

phd with summa cum laude or phd summa cum laude

I am uncertain between the following two sentences: 1) I received my Ph.D. in (subject X) with summa cum laude. 2) I received my Ph.D. in (subject X) summa cum laude. Which one is better? Or maybe they are both OK?
Alessandro
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1
2