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I know it’s a bit silly since I don’t think there was a concept of a gamer back then but just curious if it’s possible to make something close to that phrase?

Joonas Ilmavirta
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Johhan Santana
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1 Answers1

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I'd say lusor studiosissimus.

The word lusor means "player" in general, from ludere, and I don't think we should expect a closer hit for "gamer".

The adjective studiosus comes from studium and is more about eagerness and devotion than studying despite looking like many familiar words in modern languages. I emphasized it further with the superlative.

To me the English implies video games while the Latin doesn't. It refers to playing any games, so video games are certainly included. If you want to specify the type of games involved, you need to supply details. But in most use cases you shouldn't explain yourself too much at the expense of conciseness if major misinterpretation is unlikely.

Joonas Ilmavirta
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  • Thank you. And yeah, I guess it falls in with video games more than anything. Do you think with better context it would make sense with lusor studiosissimus referring to video game player? – Johhan Santana Feb 28 '23 at 02:08
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    @JohhanSantana I added a sentence to clarify. It makes perfect sense to use the phrase for video games. It's broader than the English phrase but certainly includes video games. – Joonas Ilmavirta Feb 28 '23 at 02:17
  • There seems to be a neo-Latin word, Videolusis for video games, though I can't find an originating source outside of its usage on some internet forums. Maybe that could be used to construct a more specific phrase? – Adam Feb 28 '23 at 20:42
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    @Adam You can always replace my lusor with videolusor, but it depends on context whether it will be necessary. My translation has the same denotation but a different connotation than the English when it comes to including specific game types, so no translation will be perfect. I'm not sure I buy lusis, but I'd be happy to see an answer elaborating on that or other options. – Joonas Ilmavirta Mar 01 '23 at 02:34
  • Perhaps we could coin a new word, videolusor; one who plays video games? – Adam Mar 01 '23 at 04:05
  • I'm not sure that would be a good idea. I'm reminded of A. W. Potts in "Hints Towards Latin Prose Composition" that advocates quite strongly against composite words in Latin for the most part. Looking around I managed to find the passage in question: (continuing) – Victor BC Jun 14 '23 at 17:14
  • "Lucretius endeavoured to enrich the vocabulary available for the high purposes of poetry by coining compound words such as aedituentes, frugiferentes, navigerus, primigenus, silvifragus, suavidicus, tripectorus, but neither his authority nor their sonorous dignity sufficed to recommend to his successors formations unsuited to the genius of the Latin tongue.", p. 13. (Continuing) – Victor BC Jun 14 '23 at 17:14
  • I think this advises at least caution that using compound words should be avoided for proper Latinitas. Maybe an adjective would be better suited for clarity? Maybe lusor electronicorum studiosissimus. A "devout player of electronic [games]" – Victor BC Jun 14 '23 at 17:14
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    @VictorBC I wouldn't use anything with video- in Latin unless I had the urgent need to be very specific and avoid the slightest misinterpretation. Usually just "gamer" will do, just like in English. Indeed, the best style to specify the matter in Latin would be to use an adjective. My first reaction would be lusor computatralis, which works at least if it's about computer games rather than console games. And that brings me to my recurring point: The best translation of a given phrase depends on context, not just the original phrase. – Joonas Ilmavirta Jun 14 '23 at 17:46
  • @JoonasIlmavirta Very well said, I agree with you entirely. When I was an English teacher, whenever someone asked me what was the translation of X word in English, I invariably asked "What's the context?" because very frequently if I simply gave an answer, my students managed to find an application for it that made absolutely no sense in English but did make sense in Portuguese lol – Victor BC Jun 14 '23 at 19:05