Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #255: Plural -eunt

The focus for today's lesson is the plural of the irregular verb ire, "to go." Here are some of the verbs you have seen so far:

eo: I go
it: he/she/it goes
ire: to go
i: go!

And here is the new 3rd-person-plural form:

eunt: they go

There are also lots of compounds of this verb; here are the compounds you will see in today's sayings:

ad-ire: to go towards, come
co-ire: to go together, unite
inter-ire: to go to ruin, die
per-ire: to go away, perish

You've seen two other "go" compounds before too:

ante-ire: to go before, precede
Superbia anteit ruinam.
"Pride goes before ruin."
trans-ire: to go through, pass, pass by
Transit hora, manet opera.
"Time passes, the work remains."

And here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Orta omnia intereunt.
All-things that-have-arisen die.
orta OM-nia in-TER-eunt.

The word intereunt is the plural of interit, "goes away, dies."

The subject of the verb is omnia, "all (things)," neuter plural. The word orta is also neuter plural, and it is the participle of the verb oritur, "rises, arises." So, ortum means "something that has arisen."

The phrase appears in one of the letters of the Roman historian Sallust.

Compare the English saying, "What goes up must come down."

2. Cito nata cito pereunt.
Things-born quickly perish.
cito nata cito PER-eunt.

The word pereunt is the plural of perit, "perishes."

The subject of the verb is nata, "born (things), things that are born" neuter plural. You can see this same root in Latin natura.

Compare the English sayings "Easy come, easy go" and "Soon ripe, soon rotten."

3. Optima citissime pereunt.
The-best-things perish most-quickly.
OP-tima ci-TIS-sime PER-eunt.

The subject of the verb is optima, "the best (things)," neuter plural.
The word citissime is an adverb, and not just any adverb: it's a superlative adverb, "most quickly." You've seen the other forms of this adverb before: cito, "quicky," and citius, "more quickly."

Compare the English saying, "Only the good die young."

4. Non coeunt contraria.
Opposites don't come-together.
non CO-eunt con-TRA-ria.

The word coeunt is the plural of coit, "comes together, unites." We use the noun form of this verb as an English word "coitus."

The subject of the verb is contraria, "contrary, opposite (things)," neuter plural. The singular is contrarium, which gives us English "contrary."

The phrase can be found in Seneca the Younger’s philosophical essay De Constantia Sapientis.

5. Adeunt etiam optima.
The-best-things still are-coming.
AD-eunt etiam OP-tima.

The word adeunt is the plural of adit, "goes towards, comes."

The adverb etiam means different things in different contexts, but the idea here is "still, yet."

Compare the English saying, "The best things are yet to come."

Here's a recap: