Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #50: Wrapping up Week 11

I hope you are getting used to the Latin sayings with verbs! You'll see one familiar verb in today's sayings, praestat, and one new verb: cenat, "dines, has dinner." There is also a really nifty proverb-poem today; it is one of my favorites.

And here is a little slideshow (with cats) of all the words you have seen before; if you take a minute or two to review these sayings, you'll be better prepared for today's sayings! And if you have questions about any of the sayings on the slides, you can use the Sayings list to look up the translation and notes for that saying (the sayings there are linked to their blog posts).

Now here are today's proverbs:

1. Musca cenat non vocata.
(A) fly eats, not summoned.
musca cenat non vo-CA-ta

The feminine noun musca, "fly," gives us English "mosquito."

The verb cenat means "dines, eats dinner."

You've seen vocatus before, and this is the feminine form: vocata, "called, summoned." It is feminine because it is describing the feminine musca. This is a passive participle, formed from the verb vocat. So, the verb vocat means "calls, summons," while the participle vocata means "called, summoned."

You'll be learning lots more about passive verbs in the weeks to come!

This saying is literally true: flies really do show up to eat without an invitation! Metaphorically, it applies to someone who exploits your hospitality without being invited.

2. Praestat aliquid quam nihil.
Something is better than nothing.
praestat A-liquid quam nihil

The pronoun aliquid is a compound, ali-quid, "some-thing," i.e. "something."

We use the saying "Something is better than nothing" in English too!

3. Magna est vis auri.
Great is (the) power of-gold.
magna est vis auri

The word auri is the genitive form of aurum, "gold." You can see this Latin root in the name El Dorado, the mythical city of gold.

Compare a saying you saw earlier: Magna vis pecuniae. The phrases vis auri and vis pecuniae are synonyns, "the power of gold" and "the power of money."

4. Quale semen, talis est messis.
As (the) seed, so is (the) harvest.
quale semen, talis est messis

The adjective quale is a neuter form, agreeing with the neuter noun semen, "seed," which is the origin of the English word "semen."

You've seen the masculine and feminine form qualis many times previously, but this is the first time you have seen the neuter form.

The feminine noun messis, "harvest," takes a feminine adjective: talis.
Compare the English saying, "As you sow, so shall you reap."

5. Homo humus, fama fumus, finis cinis.
(A) person (is) earth, fame (is) smoke, (the) end (is) ash.
homo humus, fama fumus, finis cinis

The noun humus, "earth, ground," is a feminine noun of the second declension. There are not a lot of feminine nouns in the second declension, but this is one of them! Unlike the other word pairs, the words homo and humus really are etymologically related; both come from the Indo-European root dʰéǵʰōm.

The noun cinis, "ash," can be seen in English "incinerate."

As you can see, this saying is like a tiny poem, with each pair of words being connected both through their meaning and through their sound.

It's also possible to punctuate the little poem this way. You can decide which you like best!

Homo? Humus. Fama? Fumus. Finis? Cinis.

"What is a person? Earth. What is fame? Smoke. What is the end? Ash."

This is a medieval Latin saying, as you can tell from the rhymes. Medieval Latin poets were very fond of rhyme, but rhyme was not a feature of classical Latin poetry. This saying belongs to the "Memento mori" ("remember (that you are going) to die") genre; you can read more about that at Wikipedia: Memento mori.

Here's a recap: