Expert: Maria - 12/9/2009

Question
i was wondering if you can translate "descendant of" into Latin.

Answer
Hello,

Generally speaking, “Descendant of “ - in the sense of  “Proceeding by descent from an ancestor / offspring / the progeny or descendants of a person”- translates as follows:

-“Proles” (nominative feminine singular , 3rd.declension)

-“Progenies” (nominative feminine singular, 5th.declension)

-“Stirps “ (nominative feminine singular, 3rd.declension)

For example,  “Teucrorum stirps”, “Teucrorum progenies” as well as  “Teucrorum proles” mean :
“The descendants/ offspring / progeny  of the Trojans” used as a subject in a sentence.

I have however to tell you that I need to know the context where “descendant of “ is placed so that I can give you a correct translation as in Latin the words change ending according to their role in a sentence and their agreement with the nouns / verbs /adjectives  they refer to.

For example: “I am a descendant of the Trojans” translates as “A Teucris prognatus sum” as well as “A Teucris ortus sum”, if the subject is a male person, whereas I have to say “A Teucris prognata sum” as well as “A Teucris orta sum”, if the subject is a female person.

So, let me know please where you want to use “descendant of”.

Best regards,
Maria