Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Lesson #12: More Masculine Nouns

The focus for today's lesson continues to be masculine nouns, and today there are some masculine nouns that belong to different declensions. It's not important for you to memorize which words belong to which declension, although that will be important later on. For now, just be aware that the masculine nouns do belong to different declension groups, just as the feminine nouns do.

You can always use the masculine nouns slideshow (also in blog sidebar) to keep track of these different groups because the slides are color-coded: most masculine nouns and adjectives belong to the second declension and have a blank slide background, while the third declension nouns and adjectives are marked with a blue background and the fourth declension is yellow.

And now, here are today's sayings:

1. Risus optima medicina.
Laughter (is the) best medicine.
RI-sus OP-ti-ma me-di-CI-na.

The noun risus is formed from the verb ridere, "to laugh." Although it ends in -us, this is actually a fourth declension noun. When you turn a Latin verb into a noun like this, it is often a masculine noun of the fourth declension ending in -us. You'll learn more about how that works later.

You've seen optim- before: Mediocritas optima est.

Notice that the adjective optima is agreeing here with medicina, a feminine noun, not with risus, which is masculine. So, that helps you see how the sentence is structured: Risus || optima medicina, with risus as the subject and optima medicina as the predicate.

As you can tell, from Latin medicina we get English "medicine."

2. Fames optimus est coquus.
Hunger is (the) best cook.
FA-mes OP-ti-mus EST CO-quus.

The noun fames, "hunger," is a feminine noun of the third declension. From this Latin root we get English "famine" and "famished."

The noun coquus, "cook," is the origin of English "cook." In English, you cannot tell if "cook" is a noun or a verb, but in Latin, you can tell the difference: coquus is the person who cooks, while coquere is the verb "(to) cook."

In this saying, you see the form optimus because it is agreeing with coquus, a masculine noun. Notice also how the noun phrase wraps around the verb est: optimus...coquus. This wrap-around style is very typical of Latin, but it is impossible to imitate in English.

The idea here is that anything tastes good when you are hungry; compare the English saying, "Hunger is the best sauce."

3. Fames est gladius acutissimus.
Hunger is (the) sharpest sword.
FA-mes EST GLA-di-us a-cu-TIS-si-mus.

Latin gladius, "sword," gives us "gladiator" of course! And also "gladiolus."

The adjective acutissimus, "sharpest," is the superlative form of acutus, "sharp," which gives us English "acute." The Latin root is acus, "needle."

This is a powerful saying: yes, a sword can kill, and painfully, but hunger is even more painful and more deadly; hunger is the sharpest sword!

Notice how the word order puts the emphasis on acutissimus rather than on gladius; the most emphatic words in any Latin sentence are the first word and the last.

4. Habitus est altera natura.
Habit is second nature.
HA-bi-tus EST AL-te-ra na-TU-ra.

Latin habitus is another one of those fourth declension verbal nouns, like risus above, and it has a wide range of meanings: "habit, way of life, values, disposition, character," etc. It is from the verb habere, "(to) have" and it is the origin of English "habit."

The adjective altera can mean "other," but in particular it can mean "second" (i.e. "the other (of two), as it does here. Compare the English phrase "second nature."

Latin natura, "nature," is another kind of verbal noun; it comes from the verb nasci, "be born," which has as its participle natus, "born." From this Latin root we also get English "neonatal," new-born. So, in Latin, natura is a generative idea: it is what is always being born, what is coming into being all around us and in us.

5. Dominus illuminatio mea.
The Lord (is) my light.
DO-mi-nus il-lu-mi-NA-ti-o ME-a.

Latin dominus means "lord, master" (as in master-and-slave), and it is also a standard way to refer to God in the Christian tradition, as in this saying. The root is dom- which you have already seen in domus, "home," the idea being that the dominus is the master of the house, the home owner. You can see this Latin root in English "dominate." And, yes, it is also the origin of Latin "domino."

Latin illuminatio gives us English "illumination." The root is lux, "light," and both lux and light share a common Indo-European origin: lewk-, meaning "white, bright, light."

This is the motto of Oxford University! Find out more at Wikipedia: Dominus illuminatio mea.

Here's a recap: