Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #34: The Third Declension

Over the past two weeks, you've been working on the nominative and genitive forms of the first and second declensions.

Almost all first-declension words end in -a and are feminine; there are just a few masculine first-declension nouns which you will learn later. The genitive ending is -ae.
Almost all second-declension words are either masculine or neuter, with just a few feminine nouns; the masculines end in -us (as do the feminines), while the neuters end in -um. The genitive ending is -i.

But with the third declension, things are messy!

The third declension contains a mix of feminine, masculine, and neuter words, and you cannot tell the gender just from looking at the word.

The other thing that is confusing about third-declension words is the variety of nominative endings. I've listed below the third-declension words you have seen so far organized by the ending. The majority of third-declension words end in -S (or -X):

-S: os

-MS: hiems

-NS: glans, loquens, patiens, praesens, sapiens, vivens

-RS: ars, mors

-TAS: caritas, felicitas, libertas, mediocritas, paupertas, veritas

-ES: dives, fames, haeres, quies

-IS: apis, avis, canis, finis, ignis, testis

-IS/E: amabilis, brevis, difficilis, dulcis, inevitabilis, instabilis, invisibilis, natalis, omnis, qualis, talis, variabilis (the masc. and fem. forms end in -is; the neuter forms in -e: amabilis / amabile, etc.)

-US: tempus, Venus

-TUS: juventus, servitus, senectus

-AX: fugax, mendax, pax

-EX: judex, lex, lux, nox, rex, senex

But you have seen some other endings also:

-C: lac

-L: fel, mel, sal, sol

-T: caput

-EN: nomen, omen

-O: cupido, homo, imago, nemo

-TIO: illuminatio, imitatio, peregrinatio

-AR: pulvinar

-ER: carcer, mater, pater, pauper

-OR: amor, dolor, dulcior, melior, minor

-TOR: adulator, laudator

Today's sayings feature some more third-declension nouns and adjectives, all in the nominative case... and tomorrow you will start learning about the genitive forms. Sneak preview: all the genitive forms will end in -is! So it's not as bad as you might expect from these many different nominative endings.

So, here are today's sayings:

1. Semper fidelis.
Forever faithful.
semper fi-DE-lis

The word semper is an adverb you seen before: Semel malus, semper malus.

The third-declension adjective, fidelis, "faithful," is masculine or feminine, depending on context. You can see this root in English "fidelity."

This is the motto of the United States Marine Corps, and as such it has its own Wikipedia article: Semper fidelis, often shortened to "Semper fi" (with "fi" pronounced as if it rhymed with pie, which is not a very Latin pronunciation).

2. Non leo sed mus.
Not (a) lion but (a) mouse.
non leo sed mus

The third-declension noun leo, "lion," shows up in the name "Leo" and also in "leonine," plus it is also the origin of English "lion."

The third-declension noun mus, "mouse," comes, like English "mouse," from the Indo-European múh₂s. You can see Latin mus in English "muscle" (really! a muscle looks like a little mouse, musculus, running under your skin).

This saying applies to a situation where something has turned out to be far inferior to whatever was promised: you were expecting a lion, but all you got was a mouse.

3. Novus rex, nova lex.
New king, new law.
novus rex, nova lex

You can see both the first- and second-declension forms, nova and novus, in this saying: novus rex is "new king" and nova lex is "new law." This Latin root shows up in English "novelty".

You've seen the third-declension nouns rex and lex before in this saying: Rex est lex vivens.
This saying applies to what is happening in the United States right now!

4. Omnis amans amens.
Every lover (is) demented.
omnis amans amens

You've seen the third-declension adjective omnis before in many sayings, including: Omnis est misera servitus.

The third-declension adjective amans is a present participle from the verb amare, "to love," so it literally means "loving, someone who loves," hence "lover." You've seen another word formed from this verb, amabile, in this saying: Omne pulchrum amabile.

The third-declension adjective amens, "demented," is literally a-mens, "without a mind, witless."

The point of this saying is the play on words between amans and amens, "lover" and "demented." The words are not related in any way, but their similarity in sound makes it seem like they are: someone who is in love cannot help but lose their minds because amans sounds so much like amens.

5. Tempus optimus judex.
Time (is the) best judge.
tempus OP-timus judex

You've seen the third-declension noun tempus before: Tempus est vitae magister.

You've also seen the second-declension adjective optimus before: Optimus magister bonus liber.

Plus you've already seen the third-declension noun iudex in this saying: Judex est lex loquens.
The idea is that we should not rush to make judgments, but instead wait before passing judgment so that we can see how the consequences take shape in time.

Here's a recap: