Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #41: More Declensions 1-2-3

Here's a slideshow (with cats!) that reviews the vocabulary you will meet again in today's sayings. So, take a few minutes to click through the slideshow to remind yourself of these words and sayings that you have seen before... you are going to see those words again in today's sayings.

Remember: read out loud! And if you want more information about one of the sayings on the slides, you can find links on the Sayings page.

And here are the new sayings:

1. Forma dei munus.
Beauty (is a) gift of-god.
forma dei munus

The third-declension noun munus, "gift" is the root of English "munificent." In addition to meaning "gift," munus can also mean "duty, office," and you can see that sense in the English word "municipal." For some comments on the range of meaning of this Latin word, see wiktionary: munus.

You already know the words forma and dei, the genitive of deus.

This saying appears in The Art of Love by the Roman poet Ovid.

2. Amicitia sol et sal vitae.
Friendship (is the) sun and salt of-life.
ami-CI-tia sol et sal vitae

You already know all the words of this saying, which is a variation on a saying you've seen before: Vitae sal amicitia.

The elegance of this variation depends on the sound-play of sol and sal, which does not come through in the English but which is the whole point of the Latin saying. We need sun, and we need salt, to stay alive, and so too we need friendship.

This combination of sol et sal appears in other phrases as well: Greece was sol et sal gentium, "the sun and salt of nations," etc. Compare the English saying, "heart and soul."

3. Tempus optima medicina.
Time (is the) best medicine.
tempus OP-tima medi-CI-na

You also know all the words of this saying, which is an alternative to another saying about the best medicine: Risus optima medicina.

Compare the English saying, "Time heals all wounds."

4. Nec Irus, nec Croesus.
Neither Irus, nor Croesus.
nec Irus, nec Croesus

The word nec is a shortened form of neque, ne-que, "not-and, and not, nor." When used in a pair, nec...nec, it works just like English "neither...nor."

The two people mentioned here are from Greek mythology. Irus was a beggar on the island of Ithaka who appears in Homer's Odyssey (details at Wikipedia: Irus); so Irus stands for poverty. Croesus was the king of Lydia, proverbial for his extreme wealth (details at Wikipedia: Croesus).

So, this is a shorthand way of saying "Neither too poor, nor too rich." As you've seen before in other Latin sayings, being in the middle, mediocritas, is best, including when it comes to wealth.

5. Fida est terra, infidum mare.
(The) land is trustworthy, the sea (is) untrustworthy.
fida est terra, IN-fidum mare

The first-declension feminine noun terra, "land, earth,"

The feminine adjective fida, "faithful, trustworthy," is related to a word you've seen before: fidelis, which also means "faithful."
The third-declension neuter noun mare, "sea,"

The neuter adjective infidum, "unfaithful, untrustworthy," is a compound: in-fidum, "un-faithful." You've seen other compounds with this same negating in- prefix: incertum, inevitabile, inimica (in-amicus), iniquus (in-aequus), immoderata (in-moderata), innocentia, impunitum (in-punitum), instabile, and invisibile.

Both the Romans and the Greeks viewed the sea as a place of unpredictable danger: the weather was unpredictable, there were no landmarks by which to navigate, etc. So, you can feel confident about a journey by land; a journey by sea was something far more dangerous.

Here's a recap: