Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #51: Another week of -at verbs

The focus for today's lesson is more of the 1st-conjugation verbs which have the vowel -a- and the 3rd-person singular ending: -t, resulting in verbs that end in -at.

The slideshow below contains the 1st-conjugation verb sayings from last week; take a minute to review them now before you move on to this week's sayings. You'll also find slides here for the words you've seen before that you will see in today's sayings:

And here are today's sayings:

1. Fama volat.
Rumor flies.
fama volat

You already know the words in this saying!

Long before the Internet, both the Greeks and Romans saw how quickly rumor could spread. The goddess known as Fama in Latin, Pheme in Greek, was depicted as having wings, showing how rumors spread so quickly that the goddess must be flying.

You can read more about the ancient goddess at Wikipedia: Fama.

2. Nummus regnat ubique.
Money reigns everywhere.
nummus regnat U-bique

The noun nummus literally means a "coin," and by extension it means "money" in general. The word numerus comes from the same root, which gives us "number" in English. The word "numismatics" means the study of coins.
The verb regnat, "reigns, is king," is from the noun rex (stem reg-), meaning "king." This is the origin of the English verb "reigns" and also the English adjective "regnant."

The idea is that money everywhere is king; the coin commands, and everyone obeys.

3. Sapientissimus et peccat.
(The) wisest (man) also makes-mistakes.
sapien-TIS-simus et peccat

The masculine adjective sapientissimus, "wisest," is the superlative form of sapiens (stem sapient-), "wise." The adjective is being used as a noun here: "the wisest man." You've seen the supernative ending -issimus before in the word acutissimus, "sharpest."
The verb peccat can mean something as simple as "make a mistake," but it can also mean "transgress" or "offend." In Christian Latin, peccat means "sins" and a peccator is a "sinner." You can see this Latin root in English "impeccable," something that is perfect, never mistaken.

Most of the time when you see et in Latin, it is the conjunction "and," but sometimes et is used as an adverb, meaning "too, also, even," as here. The idea is that in addition to being correct, the wisest person can also be in error: et peccat.

You've seen the adverbial et before, as in this saying: Qualis mater, talis et filia, "As the mother, so too the daughter." Here's another example you've seen before: Sicut fremitus leonis, et regis ira, "As the lion's roar, so too the king's anger."

4. Unus quidem, sed leo est.
One indeed, but (he) is (a) lion.
unus quidem, sed leo est

This saying is the punchline to an Aesop's fable. The story goes that the fox was making fun of the lioness because she had only one cub. The lioness replied with these words: Unus quidem, sed leo est.

Which is to say: a whole litter of foxes would not be equal in worth to a single lion cub.

Compare the English saying, "Quality, not quantity."

5. Avarus auri custos, non dominus.
(A) greedy (man is the) jailer of-(his)-gold, not (its) master.
a-VA-rus auri custos, non DO-minus

The 3rd-declension noun custos means "keeper, guard, jailer." The stem of this noun is custod- which you can see in English "custodian." As often, the English derivative can help you remember the stem of the Latin noun.

The idea here is that there is nothing good about the way a miser keeps his money locked up in a money-box, like Mr. Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. If someone is the dominus, or master, of his money, he would spend it wisely, not just watch it the way a prison guard watches a prisoner.

Here's a recap: