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14
votes
6 answers
What should the corona virus be called in Latin?
The corona virus (or a specific kind thereof) is a hot topic, and one should of course be able to discuss it in Latin.
But what should we call the thing in Latin?
Both corona and virus are Latin words, but it's not clear that they could be used…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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14
votes
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Does it make sense to display a decimal number such as 12.34 as Roman numerals? If not, how else?
I'm auto-converting any "Arabic" number in a text to Roman numerals.
This means that:
123
Becomes:
CXXIII
But what to do when I encounter decimals such as:
12.34
? Should I really do:
XII.XXXIV
? Decimals are a confusing concept in Roman…
Jimmy Perez
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14
votes
3 answers
How to resolve ambiguity with reflexive pronouns
A comment to an answer of this question mentions that ambiguity can arise with a reflexive pronoun when both the independent clause and the clause with the reflexive pronoun have third-person subjects. A minimal example of this kind of ambiguity…
brianpck
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14
votes
4 answers
What does this text mean with capitalized letters?
I saw this text carved at the foot of a statue in Klagenfurt, Austria:
I guess it's in Latin and Google translate gave me a sketchy translation.
But I don't get why some letters are capitalized? Are they Roman numerals? If so, how should the…
Mahm00d
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14
votes
2 answers
How did "spina" shift semantically from "thorn" or "prickle" to "backbone"?
From the online etymology dictionary (boldface mine):
spine (n.)
c. 1400, "backbone," later "thornlike part" (early 15c.),
from Old French espine "thorn, prickle; backbone, spine" (12c., Modern French épine),
from Latin spina "backbone,"…
user37
14
votes
2 answers
Memento quod
(A tangent off of a question and comment by David Charles.)
This verse from roughly the ninth century:
Memento rerum conditor,
Nostri quod olim corporis
Sacrata ab alvo Virginis
Nascendo formam sumpseris.
exhorts the creator to remember that…
Ben Kovitz
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14
votes
2 answers
What's the correct way to say, in Latin, "creation within God" & "creation through God"?
A great swath of Christendom has, from as early as Augustinus Hipponensis, held that God created the universe ex nihilo, "from/ out of nothing." One of the motivations behind this has been to refute or avoid the ex materia conclusion, which would…
Adinkra
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14
votes
1 answer
Are there any other neuter words of the second declension that end on -us than "virus"?
Virus is a neuter word of the second declension even though it ends on -us, as evidenced by its genitive on -i (it has no plural). Are there any other such words?
Bonus question: is it possible that there were two forms of virus, one masculine on…
Cerberus
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votes
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How did mundus come to mean both world and clean?
Basically what's in the title: How did mundus come to mean both world and clean? L&S lists a number of other meanings, but in my knowledge these are two very frequent uses, that do not seem to have much in common.
I have always wondered whether…
Rafael
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13
votes
2 answers
Are the names of these months realistic?
I'm working on a calendar. To choose the name of the months I focused on Latin and in particular on a systematisation of the names finishing with 'ber'. I was wondering if my choices were correct and realistic.
For example, the name of the twelfth…
user3165
13
votes
3 answers
Does the "re" in emails have an ancient origin?
The Latin ablative re has become a word in English, meaning "regarding" or "with reference to" or something along those lines.
This is also used in emails as an automatically generated prefix "Re: " to replies.
Was the word re used in a similar…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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13
votes
1 answer
Is there a John or Jane Doe in Latin?
In English, John Doe or Jane Doe is understood not to be an actual name of a person, but to be some kind of a placeholder name or mean an average citizen.
There are many variants of this name in English and similar names exists in other…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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13
votes
2 answers
Translation needed for 130 years old church document
I found this record of my great grandfather in a local church in Malaysia. Today, nobody use Latin anymore in this country. I should be much grateful if someone can help my family translating this document so that we can trace our root. My great…
Lawrence L
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13
votes
7 answers
Less complicated Latin texts to continue reading after highschool
So I realise this might not be a well defined question, but I hope it can still classify as not being a discussion.
So I have just finished highschool and after 6 years of Latin, I am not quite willing to give it up. I tried reading some texts by…
Yadeses
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13
votes
2 answers
What is the Latin name for the Romani people?
The Romani (aka Gypsies, though some consider that a slur) are nomadic people who dispersed across Europe about a thousand years ago. In other languages they have exonyms like tzigane, gitan, and bohème, but "Romani" seems to be the preferred term…
Draconis
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