Expert: Maria Date: 5/17/2008 Subject: Word or expression
Question Hello,
I was looking around online for an online Latin dictionary to translate words such as knowledge and learning. I found the words:
sapio : to know
vidi: comprehend
are these two definitions correct?
are there any other words that mean knowledge?
Also, is there a word for gaming or playing or fun? I couldn't find anything in the dictionaries.
Thank you for your time!
Answer Hello,
First of all I have to tell you that SAPIO (1st.person singular, present indicative) does not mean “ knowledge”, but “I know”/ “I am intelligent”/ “ I show good sense”/ “I understand”, according to the context, while VIDI ( 1st.person singular, past indicative) means
“I saw”/“ I comprehended”.
Therefore both SAPIO and VIDI do not correspond respectively to the words “knowledge” and “learning”, whose correct translation is the following:
1-SCIENTIA (“knowledge”, that is “what is known, as through study or experience”) or ERUDITIO ( “knowledge”, that is “erudition” which implies profound, often specialized knowledge).
2-DOCTRINA (“Learning” , that is “knowledge gained by schooling and study”)
Note that SCIENTIA and DOCTRINA belong to the 1st.declension, while ERUDITIO belongs to the 3rd.declension. All these nouns are in the nominative case, i.e. the case of the subject of a phrase.
As for the nouns “gaming / playing/ fun”, here are the corresponding Latin words:
1-LUDUS (2nd.declension, nominative) / LUSUS (4th. declension, nominative) / IOCUS ( 2nd.declension, nominative), according to the context that surrounds these words and determines their meaning.
To conclude, I have to point out that online Latin dictionary or automatic online translators are absolutely worthless, especially with inflected languages such as Latin which has five declensions with six cases, four conjugations, three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), two numbers (singular, plural), many tenses and moods, and moreover different endings, according to the role of a word in the phrase (subject, direct / indirect object, etc.).
