Questions about the use of Latin words and phrases in English.
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7answers
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7answers
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3answers
658 views
Old English instead of Latin in early Britain
For almost 400 years, Britain was a Roman province. During that period, naturally, Latin was an important language in the region. When the Germanic tribes invaded the British Isles (around the 5th ...
18
votes
3answers
5k views
When a sentence starts with “e.g.”, should the e be capitalized?
When a sentence starts with e.g., should the e be capitalized?
Neverminding that it might be better to start with "For example," ... Thinking of SE posts and comments, should the starting e be ...
18
votes
6answers
19k views
How did “sinister”, the Latin word for “left-handed”, get its current meaning?
Sinister is the Latin word for left-handed. What evolution of meaning turned left-handed into evil and threatening?
17
votes
5answers
859 views
Which style of Latin plurals should I use?
Many Latin words in English have both Latin-style plurals and English-style plurals:
referendum – referendums, referenda.
minimum – minimums, minima.
gymnasium – gymnasiums, gymnasia.
...
17
votes
5answers
43k views
Should I write “PhD” or “Ph.D.”?
Question pretty self-explanatory. Should the abbreviation of the Latin term philosophiae doctor be written as PhD (no periods) or Ph.D. (with periods)?
14
votes
4answers
304 views
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 - ...
13
votes
4answers
400 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 ...
13
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4answers
532 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 ...
12
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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!
12
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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 ...
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?
11
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4answers
5k views
What is the origin of the counting prefixes: uni-, bi-/di-, tri-, quad-, etc.?
Many English words use the prefixes uni-, bi-/di-, tri-, quad- and so on to mean one, two, three, and four. For example:
A unicycle has one wheel, a bicycle two, and a tricycle three.
I presume ...
11
votes
1answer
620 views
Why isn't “muscle” pronounced “muskle”?
It comes from the Latin musculus (meaning mouse) and Latin has only hard c's. The "c" has somehow become soft or silent during evolution. Why did this happen?
Also, if muscle is pronounced mussle, ...
10
votes
3answers
377 views
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?
10
votes
4answers
431 views
What is the meaning and usage of the abbreviation “v. a.”?
At the time of this writing there is no explanation on wiktionary, and searching the web does not yield an answer, only more instances of its use:
A random entry at the Etymological Dictionary of ...
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 ...
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
294 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 ...
9
votes
3answers
154 views
Is the Latin abbreviation “f” (folio) commonly used in page ranges?
When citing from an inclusive range of two consecutive pages such as pages 25 and 26, one can write
25–26
or
25f
I know this is a question of style, but I am having little luck with Google ...
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 ...
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
4answers
11k views
What is the plural of “scenario”?
What is the plural of "scenario"? I have always used "scenarios", but have recently come across "scenaria" and "scenarii". Should I be treating it as an Italian or Latin word?
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Is “et al.” used as a singular or plural subject?
When referring to multiple authors by using the name of the first author and "et al.", is it correct to grammatically treat this as one person or multiple persons?
Gamma et al. are saying in their ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
7
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3answers
697 views
As “postscript” is one word, why do some abbreviate it as “p.s.”?
'Postscript' is a single word in modern English, and Dictionary.com states that it's even based on a single Latin word, postscrīptum. So, why do some abbreviate it to p.s. (or P.S.), as on this ...
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.
7
votes
3answers
233 views
Latin pronunciation [closed]
(You may well say this doesn't fit into an "English language" site, but the scientific Latin terms could be said to be part of English.)
My young daughter loves snails; I would like her to learn the ...
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 ...
7
votes
1answer
95 views
Is “qo” a step in the evolution of the question mark?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question_mark
According to the wikipedia article I've linked to above, "qo" was sometimes used in the middle ages to abbreviate the latin word "questio" in the way that we ...
6
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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'?
6
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2answers
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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 ...
6
votes
1answer
107 views
Why is there an “h” in “pulchritude”?
I'd assumed that pulchritude was derived from Greek, because of the "ch" but it turns out to be from Latin pulcher. I've been taught that "c" always has a hard pronunciation in Latin, so why would ...
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
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4answers
3k views
Correct spelling/italicization of e.g., i.e.?
Should e.g. and i.e. have periods, e.g. "e.g.", or no periods, eg "eg"? Should they be italicized, e.g. "i.e." or not, eg "i.e"?
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Why A is pronounced differently in “opacity” and “opaque”
When I look at pronunciation guides for opacity and opaque I see the following:
opaque: oh-peyk (a hard A)
opacity: oh-pas-i-tee (a soft A)
Since their root seems to be the Latin opācus, ...
6
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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 ...
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 ...
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
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 ...
5
votes
3answers
840 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.
...
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", ...
5
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3answers
192 views
What is the correct Latinate prefix for honey-eaters?
In English, a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy products can be referred to as an ovo-lacto vegetarian. By the same token, could a person who eats honey but is otherwise vegan be meaningfully called ...
5
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2answers
1k views
“In toto” versus “in total”
Are the phrases "in total" and "in toto" interchangeable, or is "in total" a corruption of "in toto"?
5
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2answers
182 views
Plural of “Animus/Anima”
What is the plural of the words “animus” and “anima”? In any context (literary, Jung psychology, apothecary etc.). Is there English v. Latin differences? Interwebs are no help: versions differ from ...
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.
...
