bene gesserit

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Anthony Appleyard
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bene gesserit

Post by Anthony Appleyard »

Please, what is the Latin use of the phrase "bene gesserit"? Web search is swamped by the results of this phrase being re-used in the science fiction 'Dune' series as the name of a society of female witches:: its author likely knew that "bene" is also Hebrew for "sons of".

Rindu
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Re: bene gesserit

Post by Rindu »

BENE is an adverb which means "well."

GESSERIT < Gerere, "to do"

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Anthony Appleyard
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Re: bene gesserit

Post by Anthony Appleyard »

Rindu wrote:BENE is an adverb which means "well."

GESSERIT < Gerere, "to do"
Thanks, I know, but I remember that "bene gesserit" occurs as part of a longer Latin sentence somewhere. I tried to Google search for that Latin sentence, but was swamped in sci-fi Dune series stuff.

adrianus
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Re: bene gesserit

Post by adrianus »

A legal phrase // Legale dictum
[servire] quamdiu bene gesserit = [to serve] for as long as he behaves [will have behaved] correctly
[servire] quamdiu nobis placuerit = [to serve] for as long as he/it will be pleasing to us/me [i.e., "at Our pleasure"]
I'm writing in Latin hoping for correction, and not because I'm confident in how I express myself. Latinè scribo ut ab omnibus corrigar, non quod confidenter me exprimam.

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