Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #88: More imperatives

The focus for today's lesson is more imperatives. Just to review, here are yesterday's sayings with imperative verb forms, and I've put the normal present-tense form of the verb in parentheses:

Diu delibera. (deliberat)

Festina lente. (festinat)

Minime iudica. (iudicat)

Ora et labora. (orat, laborat)

Separa et impera. (separat, imperat)

And to get ready for today's new sayings, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And now here are today's proverbs; like yesterday, they all feature imperative verbs from the 1st conjugation, ending in -a.

1. Ama proximum.
Love (your) neighbor.
ama PROX-imum.

You know the verb ama already, but proximus, "nearest, next," is new. You can see this Latin root in English "proximity" and "approximate."

The word proximum is the accusative form of the adjective, which is being used as a noun, "neighbor," in the sense of the person "(the man) next (door)" to you.

You can find the sentiment "Love thy neighbor" in the Biblical Book of Leviticus, and repeatedly in the writings of the New Testament: diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum, "you will cherish (diliges) your neighbor as yourself."

2. Fugit hora: ora.
Time is-fleeing: pray.
fugit hora: ora.

You know all the words in this saying!

The phrase fugit hora is similar to a saying you saw earlier: fugit tempus. The word hora can mean "hour," but it can also mean "time" in general.

Note the rhyme: hora-ora. This motto is associated with sun-dial art. The idea is that life is short, so you better pray now, before it is too late.

3. Festina: mox nox.
Hurry: (it will be) night soon.
fes-TI-na: mox nox.

You also know all the words in this saying already, and once again, it relies on rhyme: mox nox.

The "night" here is literally the night that comes at the end of every day, but metaphorically, it refers to the night that is the end of life, so this saying has the same meaning as the previous saying.

4. Aeternitatem cogita.
Think (about) eternity.
aeterni-TA-tem CO-gita.

The word aeternitatem is the accusative of aeternitas, which gives us English "eternity."
You might know the verb cogita from the famous saying of Descartes, Cogito, ergo sum, "I think, therefore I am."

Notice that, as often in Latin, the accusative object comes before the verb, the opposite of English, where the object regularly comes after the verb.

This saying is part of the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. While life is short, death is forever, so this saying echoes the previous sayings, but this time from the perspective of the eternity that is death as opposed to the brevity that is life.

5. Tigridis evita sodalitatem.
Avoid (a) tiger's friendship.
TI-gridis e-VI-ta sodali-TA-tem.

The word tigridis is the genitive of the 3rd-declension noun tigris, which gives us English "tiger."

The word sodalitatem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun sodalitas, which means "association" or "friendship." This is the root of English "sodality."

The verb evita means "avoid, shun." You can see this root in English "inevitable."

Notice how the noun phrase, tigridis...sodalitatem, wraps around the imperative verb.

The idea is that a tiger, even when a friend, is dangerous. It may seem desirable to have powerful friends, but this saying advises that such friendships themselves are dangerous.

Here's a recap: