Questions about the use of Latin words and phrases in English.
12
votes
3answers
7k views
What does the suffix “-saurus” mean?
Is it the same meaning in tyrannosaurus as in thesaurus?
I really can’t imagine what those two words could possibly have in common!
2
votes
2answers
1k views
What does “persona non grata” mean? [closed]
In Gossip Girl, there’s a line like this:
Spotted, Lonely Boy going from
Teacher’s Pet to persona non grata in
the pitter-patter of a heartbeat.
What’s persona non grata?
5
votes
2answers
152 views
Is “sectio caesare” an appropriate English alternative to “caesarian section”?
On Parenting.se we recently received this question, which refers to sectio caesare birth.
I was not familiar with the term, but found that wikipedia redirects the term to the caesarian section page.
...
3
votes
1answer
215 views
Is the singular form of “desiderata” a disused word?
I was interested in the following paragraph which appeared in an article titled “A New Gauge to See What’s Beyond Happiness" by John Tierney in The New York Times (May 16, 2011).
“They wanted to ...
3
votes
3answers
2k views
Pronunciation and usage of “bona fide”
As I am reading books and articles, I come across this bona fide. How do you pronounce this? How do you use it properly?
I know the definition is in good faith, like if you are welcomed to someone's ...
6
votes
2answers
5k views
How is the word “qua” used?
I play Scrabble. I'm learning words with the letter 'q'. What is the usage of the word 'qua'?
1
vote
3answers
2k views
Can “pro rata” be used as a verb? And what should the past tense be?
We are offering prices on some subscriptions which are normally priced for a full year, but allow users to buy only a few months worth.
We're calling these pro rata prices and talking about the ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
Why is “de facto” often written in italic?
Often when I see "de facto" written somewhere it is in italic. For example:
LaTeX website:
LaTeX is a high-quality typesetting system; it includes features
designed for the production of ...
8
votes
5answers
559 views
Plurals of “infimum” and “supremum”
The words infimum and supremum are technical terms in mathematics. Should their plurals be infima and suprema or infimums and supremums?
8
votes
2answers
760 views
Plural of “abacus”
A colleague and I were having a discussion as to the proper plural form of abacus. I believe the plural would be abacuses and he feels that the proper form would be abaci. I believe that abacuses is ...
4
votes
5answers
627 views
Is “ad hominem” gender-neutral?
My immediate thought is that the term is generic, and yet I read recently a verbal brickbat described as ad feminam. Was that just a po-mo back-formation, or is there some merit to the distinction?
...
0
votes
4answers
6k views
What is the correct plural of “stadium”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which style of Latin plurals should I use?
If my memory of Latin lessons serves me correctly, it should really be
stadia
However, I think most people would ...
2
votes
3answers
206 views
What are the replacements for “i.e.” and what are their differences?
I can think of "that is to say", "in other words", "put differently". And I'd like to know if there are any subtle differences in the usage of these synonyms. Can they always be used interchangeably ...
10
votes
6answers
788 views
Adjectives with Latin etymology when noun has non-Latin etymology
As a non-native English speaker, I always wondered why, for example, you say moon, but then you say lunar (same goes for side and lateral, hand and manual and so forth): in some cases, the noun is not ...
4
votes
4answers
2k views
Two octopi? What's the proper plural? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Octopuses, octopi, or octo?
What is the "proper" plural of "octopus"? A web search turns up three candidates, but is there a "right" answer?
1
vote
1answer
157 views
Derivations of operation, operable vs. reparation, reparable
After a little thought I decided irreparable derives from repairable, but a few seconds later, decided it stems from reparation, "like operable from operation". Looking the words up, I found I was ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
“Oestrogen” and “oesophagus” — why are they spelled differently in British English?
Within Biology, there are some biological terms that differ in spelling between the British English and American English dictionaries. For example, oestrogen and oesophagus, as well as the word ...
9
votes
2answers
295 views
What is the ultimate etymology of “false”?
The first two are based on wiktionary
false
From Middle English false, from Old English fals (“false, fraud, falsehood”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive ...
7
votes
5answers
868 views
“Unicorn”: what other words have this “cornus” etymology?
"Unicorn" comes from the French and late Latin, with the "cornus" part meaning "horn". I am wondering what other English words share this root. I could think of "rhinoceros". Can you think of ...
9
votes
4answers
29k views
What does 'Ibid' mean in reference/footnotes?
Every so often I read a book with footnotes, and I've seen them use Ibid. followed by page numbers - but I have no idea what this term means.
At first I thought it was a reference to a classical ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the difference between “Hept-” and “Sept-” prefixes?
As I understand it, both the prefixes "Hept-" and "Sept-" are used to indicate seven of something.
We have examples of English words that use both:
e.g.
Heptathalon, Heptagon, Heptane
vs
...
5
votes
2answers
203 views
What is the origin of the pluralization “virii”?
However wrong it may be, lots of people have pluralized virus as virii. I'd understand viri, but what misconception could lead one to write virii?
2
votes
3answers
104 views
Something similar to “plepentry envoy”
Long time ago I heard a word that to the best of my recollection is "plepentry envoy"
I have googled a few variants, but "pleopentry envoy", "pelepentry envoy" etc. but nothing similar is coming up. ...
7
votes
2answers
904 views
“omni”-prefixed word for “all-hearing”
Is there an adjective that begins with the prefix omni that means all-hearing? I thought that an aural counterpart to omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient must exist, but after a few minutes of ...
2
votes
4answers
614 views
nebula and nebulous - a question of origin
While looking up nebulous, I noticed the origin of the word is dating back to 14th century. Surprised since the nebulae wasn't discovered at that time, I checked nebula to find that its origin dates ...
13
votes
4answers
401 views
When do I use -i for expressing the plural of a word?
I've never been certain of the rules surrounding the use of the -i suffix for pluralizing a word. I had thought that it was used for any word whose singular ended in an 's', but that doesn't appear to ...
30
votes
7answers
4k views
2
votes
4answers
475 views
How is “e.g.” pluralized?
How is "e.g." pluralized? Usually I just see "e.g." used regardless of the number of examples given, but I don't know if that's correct or merely a product of widespread ignorance. More rarely, I've ...
11
votes
3answers
12k views
How does one use the Latin word “cum” in a sentence?
I'm talking about the Latin cum, which I've seen used conjunctively, as in A-cum-B. What does it mean, and how do you use it?
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Where do “‑ess” and “‑ine” suffixes come from?
English has a lot of words that end in ‑ess or ‑esse, such as actress, hostess, huntress, finesse, duress, prowess, Lyonesse, and Westernesse.
That looks like a suffix that is also used frequently ...
2
votes
2answers
519 views
“Curriculum Vitae” vs “Curriculum Vitæ”
I was just seeing the CV of Dr. Donald Knuth, which he calls as his Curriculum Vitæ. So is Curriculum Vitæ more appropriate than the commonly used Curriculum Vitae?
7
votes
3answers
3k views
Pronunciation of words ending with “‑ae”
For example,
Styracaceae, Suidae, Sulidae, Sylviidae, Symplocaceae, etc.
I don’t know how to pronounce them correctly.
5
votes
3answers
158 views
Using “allium” as an adjective
I’d like to use the Latin word for garlic, allium, as an adjective, but can’t find any examples of this being done. Is there a rule for doing this with nouns ending in ‑um? Alliumnal sounds good, but ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
How do you refer to a member of a biological taxon in the singular?
If I wish to refer to, say, an Owl in the more generic form as a member of the biological order Strigiformes, what is the correct modification of the apparently plural word into a singular form?
For ...
6
votes
2answers
3k views
What's the difference between “e.g.” and “ex.”?
I know they both roughly mean "example", but which one should I use, and when?
6
votes
3answers
420 views
Did “et cetera” gain its popularity from “The King and I”?
Is it possible that et cetera gained its popularity thanks to the 1956 movie The King and I?
Since I wasn't around before 1956, I'm not sure how common "et cetera" was in day to day speech. Or was it ...
5
votes
3answers
842 views
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.
...
4
votes
1answer
670 views
When listing species of plants, what does “var.” mean?
Sometimes within the Latin names of plants, I will find the word "var.", which I assume is an abbreviation, e.g. Ursinia chrysanthemoides var. geyeri.
What is the meaning of this?
Is it sometimes ...
-1
votes
1answer
705 views
Synonym for “in terms of” (of Latin origin)
I am trying to remember a synonym for "being" or "in terms of" ... It is a Latin word that has entered the English language.
0
votes
0answers
113 views
quadratic equation vs. quad [closed]
A quad is four of something - such as quadruplets. However, a quadratic equation is named for the squaring of the first term:
ax2 + bx + c
Looking up the etymology, both go back to quadratus or ...
3
votes
1answer
230 views
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 ...
-2
votes
3answers
516 views
Abbreviation for “or the rest” (or “or others”)?
The Latin et cetera, abbreviated etc., is often used at the end of an incomplete, inclusive list of items when it is clear that there are more items than can be enumerated conveniently and there is no ...
9
votes
1answer
377 views
English Subjunctive: An Imposition from Latin?
Often English grammar (as well as Koinê Greek, e.g "deponent", and probably others), has often been ruled by what I call "totalitarian grammarians" who impose Latin structures on it rather than doing ...
3
votes
5answers
789 views
Using “exempli gratia” in essays
Can I use "exempli gratia" (short for e.g.) in place of "for example?" If so, do I need to add any words to it to completely replace the phrase "for example?"
5
votes
5answers
881 views
How popular is “sine qua non” in English? If I use it in day to day conversation, will I be scoffed at?
I saw the word “sine qua non” in the article of New York Times (October 12) written by Gail Collins under the title, “The Gift of Glib.”
The article deals with the big Republican debate held in New ...
1
vote
2answers
331 views
What is the demonym for Norfolk, Virginia?
According to this Fritinancy entry, the demonym for Norfolk, England is "North Anglian," rather than "Norfolker" or "Norfolkite," for historical reasons.
What about Norfolk, Virginia, in the United ...
3
votes
1answer
318 views
“Mutexes” or “mutices”? [closed]
When we create new words ending in -ex (mutex being short for mutual exclusion), should we (may we?) use the Latin plural form because the suffix is similar to the latin suffix -ex?
(Personally I've ...
5
votes
2answers
583 views
Latin (or Greek) -x becomes -ght?
I have attested two words in English that come from two Latin words. These are "night" and "light". They derive from the words "nox" and "lux" respectively; both Latin — in the case of the word "nox", ...
6
votes
1answer
315 views
Etymology of “duck”
Etymonline and wiktionary don't seem to agree on that one.
Many European languages have cognates (Ente, anatra, eend), but duck seems isolated. Where does English take duck from?
Edit
As Henry ...
13
votes
4answers
533 views
Pronunciation of trailing “i” in Latin-derived words
Some pronounce the trailing "i" in Latin-derived words (e.g., "Gemini") as a long "e" and others pronounce it as a long "i." I was taught the long "e," but is this mere preference or is there a firm ...
