about the use of "de"

Latin Learning Latin
1

Hi. :slight_smile:

I like medieval church songs, and recently I bought one CD, and
when I saw the rylic in the leaflet of the CD I found this use of de difficult.

unde de divina rationalitate,
que te speculum suum fecit coronata es.

I checked L&S, but there I couldn’t find matching meaning other than
7. To indicate the thing in conformity with which any thing is done, according to, after
and
5. To indicate the producing cause or reason, for, on account of, because of
.

But here, this rationalitas looks as if it were an agent.
In L&S there is no entry of meaning for de as by denoting an agent.

In the medieval Latin, could de mean by(agent) ?

2

IMHO, it means something along the lines of “because of” here.

So it says something like “Hence because of your divine rationality you were given a crown”

By the way, it’s “quae te speculum” :slight_smile:

3

Hi, gerases. :slight_smile:

de divina rationalitate

you wrote :

because of > your > divine rationality

Oh, I was thinking this divina rationalitas was God’s mind or providence or something like that,
so I thought this de might mean by.
Yes, if this is your rationality, then de would mean because of.