Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #10: Masculine nouns in -us

After a good overview of feminine nouns and adjectives, now it's time to take a look at masculine nouns and adjectives.

You will see all the same features as before: the verb est is optional; the word order is completely free; and when an adjective modifies a masculine noun, the adjective also has to be masculine. So, I don't think the sayings will be hard to understand... just read them out loud over and over, and you will get familiar with this new vocabulary too!

I've also started a slideshow for the masculine nouns and adjectives. Most of the masculine nouns and adjectives belong to the second declension, so those are the slides with a blank background; you'll also see some nouns there which belong to the third declension, and those have a blue background. I've embedded the slideshow here in the blog post, and also in the blog sidebar.

So, here are today's proverbs:

1. Praemonitus praemunitus.
Forewarned (is) forearmed.
Prae-MO-ni-tus prae-MU-ni-tus.

The Latin prefix prae- is equivalent to the English prefix pre- (in fact, during the Middle Ages, the classical Latin diphthong "ae" came to be written and pronounced as "e"). So, praemonitus is prae-monitus, "forewarned, prewarned, warned in advance." You can see the same Latin root in the English word "premonition."

The word praemunitus works the same way, prae-munitus, "forearmed," and you can see the same root in English "munition" and "ammunition."

The charm of this saying is in the word-play: the words are the same except for just one letter in Latin! This is a famous motto; you can find out more at Wikipedia: Praemonitus praemunitus.

2. Semel malus, semper malus.
Once wicked, always wicked.
SE-mel MA-lus, SEM-per MA-lus.

The Latin word malus has a wide range of meaning: "bad, wicked, evil." You can see the root in many English words, such as "malice" and "malnourished."

Of course, this saying does not have to be just about a man! You can easily make it about a woman by changing masculine malus to feminine mala: Semel mala, semper mala.

And if you don't endorse this opinion, you can just add non to negate it: Semel malus, non semper malus, "(Someone who is) once wicked (is) not always wicked."

3. Locus medius tutus est.
(The) middle place is safe.
LO-cus ME-di-us TU-tus EST.

You can see the root of Latin locus in English words like "location."

Latin medius gives us English words like "medium" and "mediate." You have already seen the Latin noun mediocritas, which is formed from this same root: Mediocritas optima est (that was in Lesson 6).

The adjective tutus, "safe," can be seen in English "tutor," which originally meant something like "protector." Compare also the English word "tutelary."

The idea is that extremes are always dangers: it is better to be in the middle instead, much the same idea as Mediocritas optima est.

4. Ubi thesaurus, ibi oculus.
Where (your) treasure (so), there (your) eye (is).
U-bi the-SAU-rus, I-bi O-cu-lus.

Latin thesaurus comes from Greek ("th" is the Greek letter theta), and it gives us the English word "treasure," along with "thesaurus," which is a treasure-house of words.

Latin oculus, "eye," can be seen in English words like "ocular" and "binocular."

The idea is that your eye cannot help looking at the thing that you treasure, the thing you desire. Take a look back at Lesson 7 for more ubi/ibi sayings.

5. Et vocatus et non vocatus, deus est.
Both called and not called, God is (here).
ET vo-CA-tus ET NON vo-CA-tus, DE-us EST.

You have seen et before, meaning "and." When you see a doubled et... et..., that is like the English "both... and..."

The word vocatus is a special kind of adjective: it is a participle, specifically a passive participle, from the verb vocare, "to call," so vocatus means "called." The root of this word is the noun: vox, "voice." From this Latin root we get English words like "voice" and "vocal."

You've see the word deus already: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (from Lesson 7). The idea here is that God is ever-present, regardless of whether he is called or not.

Here's a recap: