OOPS… I just realized that I meant to post this in the Latin forum. Sorry about that. Is it possible to move this over there ?
Hi ! It’s me again… with more questions… 
Which Latin-English dictionary (book) do you use and what do you like about it ?
I was thinking (yes, I do that sometimes!) about getting a Latin-English Dictionary. I find myself wondering what suchandsuch word is in Latin and don’t have anywhere to go to look it up. Yesterday I was wondering what the word for “computer” was. I wanted to say “John’s computer”. I guess that in Latin it would be “John [computer]-ae” ? My preferred dictionary would have a lot of entries
For example, my French-English Dictionary is the Harper Collins Robert Unabridged which I like for its many entries (850,000 according to the cover). It contains lots of example usages for a word.
Which Latin-English dictionary on CDROM (if there are any) would you recommend ?
OK, I have to admit that I spend most of my waking moments in front of some sort of computer and I do most of my “work” on the computer so I would naturally be interested in some sort of Latin-English Dictionary software. Are there any good ones out there ? I would prefer software that will install onto the hard drive so I wouldn’t have to keep the CD in the drive to use it … cuz my Le Robert (Fr) Dictionary on CD requires the CD in the drive, and I would find it a an inconvenience to have to swap CDs all the time).o
Are there any Latin-English dictionares on the internet ?
I find it handy to do quick lookups on the internet for Fr/Eng; is there a similar animal on the internet for Latin ?
Since you caught me on-line…
I have the New College Latin & English Dictionary, a pocket-book-sized dictionary, with grammar helps at the beginning. I just got a new one, actually, since the second edition (March 1995) has corrected a number of missing words from the first. (It was very annoying to be trying to do homework, and finding that the word I needed wasn’t in the dictionary…)
I also have a Cassel’s Latin-English dictionary, which I often use in place of, or supplementing the New College one. Both of these I found at standard bookstores. (Interestingly enough, Benissimus, Bingley and I were discussing dictionaries in another thread just yesterday…)
The Perseus Project has a couple on-line Latin-English dictionaries available; you find it at www.perseus.tufts.edu; it also has a whack of other literature. I also found an on-line word-look-up application at http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe, which is handy now and again.
Kilmeny
Unlike welsh that comes up with stupid cheap words for modern words for it is an ancient language (eg. curriculum = cwricwlwm; carnival = carnifal!), I doubt that latin have an official word for computer!
If john were called johna, computer = computa = computa johnae.
computer of john…
If he were just plain old JOHN, you’d probably have some freak 4th or 5th declension consonant ending which I have not covered…
[quote author=Milito link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1171 date=1057854049]
I have the New College Latin & English Dictionary … I also have a Cassel’s Latin-English dictionary … (Interestingly enough, Benissimus, Bingley and I were discussing dictionaries in another thread just yesterday…) … www.perseus.tufts.edu … http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe<br />[/quote]
Thanks for the recommendations. I must have missed the other discussion you were having about dictionaries. I love the Words by William Whitaker link, that’s way cool ! I got lost on the Perseus Project site, will have to peruse it again later when I have more time.
Yes, the Perseus Project can be confusing if you’re not used to it. It’s not their fault, there’s just so much of it. 
To use the Latin dictionary:
Click on Tools near the top of the page.
Click on Dictionary Entry Lookup.
Type in the dictionary form of the word you’re looking for or the first few letters in the box where it says Find.
Change the tab Greek to Latin
And press Submit Query.
—
To look up the Latin for an English word:
Click on Tools near the top of the page.
Click on English to Latin Word Search.
Type the English word in the Look for box.
Press Do Search
—
If you can’t work out what on earth a particular form is:
Click on Tools near the top of the page.
Click on Latin Morphological Analysis.
Type the form in the box marked Form.
Press Analyze Form.
It will give you the dictionary form, which you can click on to consult the dictionary, and tell you what form you’ve got.
There’s much more you can do. It’s a wonderful resource. Have fun exploring.
[quote author=Episcopus link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1181 date=1057864415]you’d probably have some freak 4th or 5th declension consonant ending
My favourite is 1st declension…just sounds so nice…
Nomen mei amici est Luke Galea!
[/quote]
4th or 5th declensions ? Lemme get the declension for the -a nouns straight first… there are moments when I think my brain will burst. And I realize that this is all very basic stuff and I will look back and laugh at the difficulty I had with this … just as I look at those little “hills” where I was learning to drive stick and wonder how I managed to stall there of all places !
Yes, the 1st declension does sound nice, doesn’t it ! Though so far the noun that seems difficult to say is iniuria.
For some reason I was expecting to read the sentence as : Nomen mei amici est Luke Skywalker. LOL…
Don’t even worry about 4th and 5th declensions! There are about 7 words in 5th declension. 4th declension also makes up less than 10% of all Latin words. About 40% of all words are 3rd declension and the rest are 1st and 2nd except for a tiny percentage.
[quote author=bingley link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1194 date=1057888982]
Yes, the Perseus Project can be confusing if you’re not used to it. It’s not their fault, there’s just so much of it.
[/quote]
Thanks for walking me through the Perseus Project site. I just couldn’t figure out how to spiral down to their Dictionary. I just took a quick look and it’s a pretty nifty resource ! I will have to spend more time exploring all the goodies on this site…
[quote author=benissimus link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1197 date=1057897893]I use Cassel’s. It shows all of a word’s definitions, shows the word in context by displaying actual sentences (sententiae antiquae 
), and names the authors who have been recorded as having used each word.[/quote]
Cassell’s Lat-Eng dictionary, with it’s sententiae antiquae, sounds similar to the Oxford English Dictionary or Le Robert French Dictionary. I will have to check that out !
[quote author=benissimus link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1197 date=1057897893]
Computator is a third declension noun based off of the verb “puto, putare, putavi, putat(um)”[/quote]
What does it mean when you say “puto, putare, putavi, putat(um)” ?
I think “puto” is the 1st pers sing. “Putare” must be the infinitive of the verb. I’m not sure where “putavi” and “putat(um)” comes in. This must be covered much later on, I guess…
I haven’t yet gotten to the 3rd declension. I’m still stuck on the 1st.
What’s the Latin equivalent of the name “Marie” ?
[quote author=benissimus link=board=6;threadid=232;start=0#1197 date=1057897893]
I would highly recommend Words by William Whitaker[/quote]
I found Words by William Whitaker and even downloaded it to my computer and created a shortcut so I can access it easily from the Start Menu. I love it !
Oh! I forgot that most books start off with only certain verb parts. “puto, putare, putavi, putat(um)” are the four principal parts of the verb.
puto- 1st person present active indicative singular. I.E. “I think”
putare- active infinitive. I.E. “to think”
putavi- 1st person perfect active indicative singular. I.E. “I have thought”
putat(um/a/us)- perfect passive participle. This is a fully declinable adjective. It means “having been thought” or just the adjective “thought” as in “a thought idea”.
You are fine if you know just the “puto” and “putare”, until you want to express some complex ideas… such as participles and tenses. There are regular patterns in the forms, so you don’t have to memorize them for all verbs, but for most verbs you do have to memorize all four forms 
You can just ignore the second two parts (for now >:( )
I’m glad you enjoyed Words; it’s an efficient and convenient resource.
Oh, and Marie would be “Maria”. It means “the seas”, the plural of “mare” (another third declension noun). I think the name itself is first declension, so feel free to use it!
[quote author=Episcopus link=board=3;threadid=232;start=0#1181 date=1057864415]
Unlike welsh that comes up with stupid cheap words for modern words for it is an ancient language (eg. curriculum = cwricwlwm; carnival = carnifal!)
[/quote]
Okay, this is the last I will say on this matter. The offical Welsh word for carnival is rhialtwch and Y Geiriadur Mawr defines Curriculum as ‘cwrs addysg’.
Curriculum and carnival are not very modern words. the former was first used in 1633 and the later is a 12th century word derived from carnivale. [source OED online ]
Modern words are ‘computer’ (cyfrifiadur) and ‘internet’ (rhyngrwyd).
Please stop being nasty about Welsh
>:(
carnifal, cwricwlwm are used in official leaflets/syllabi
1633 is relatively late when considering the age of the welsh language…
i
Just out of interest, I’ve had an argument with the wife over the weekend. She and m-in-law (Welsh speaking) were trying to convince me that the letter i does not exist in Welsh. I mentioned Eisteddfod, but they said that ei was an exception. Sounds like cheating to me, o doctissimi, and your recent posts has proved me right. ;D
i’ve lost my latin dictionary (well i’m absolutly sure it was my sister actually, be she says it has to be me, as she never uses the dictionary, because she knows all her vocab. ).
my teacher must have been wondering why my homework was always so very wrong in the last few months …
I would like a Latin derivative dictionary, one that lists English (and possibly Romance languages, and, well the more the better derivatives for Latin entries. It’s easier to remember what noceo means after seeing the connection to “innocuous”. Similary, pecco would go with “impeccable” and “peccadillo”. Are any still in print? What about an online project with derivatives in many languages? If such a project doesn’t exist, it should ;p
I suppose searching through an electronic English dictionary would serve the same purpose, but I don’t have one of those.
edited to correct my ignorance ;p
Here’s an interesting online dictionary of computer terms:
http://www.obta.uw.edu.pl/~draco/docs/voccomp.html<br />
I’m not sure how authoritative it is, but its main site traces back to
http://www.obta.uw.edu.pl
University of Warsaw
Centre for Studies on
the Classical Tradition
in Poland and East-Central Europe
Magistra