A Dictionary of Latin Words and Phrases

I do not know Latin, and yet I am in one of those businesses, Theology, where, along with Medicine and the Law, you need to know a fairly large number of Latin expressions. And, as with any fully developed language, regardless of how dead it may be now, Latin is awash with declensions and tenses and conjugations and idions, so that even the simplest words have dozens of different forms, and it takes years to learn them all with proficiency. But I don't need that. What I need is something to look up stock phrases and give their meaning as used in situ.There, for example, I used a common Latin phrase used in all sorts of situations. This dictionary gives just the right amount of explanation and just the right number of examples. "Eleven Stonehenge stones are standing in situ." My favorite Latin expression, which shows up so often in reviews of stories, is "deux ex machina". Many have come to know this as a way out of a tight spot for the heros of a story. Tom Bombadil in "The Fellowship of the Ring" is my favorite example. What we may not know, and what this dictionary supplies, is that the term from stagecraft, where a machine above the open stage, allows "God" or an angel or whatever, to be lowered to do some business in front of the audience. Not necessarily a rescue, but certainly an "unexpected intervention."

.The book is fine. I high lighted it a lot. The service is at least very good. I think a dictionary at least 2 time as large as this one would still be to small. That would make it to expensive for a duffer like me. I' m pretty deaf, I'll never learn to speak Latin but can now look up printed words and phrases. Terry Marion U S Army (ret.) aka Lue Dee Kriss SASS # 5422

Great companion when reading almost any type of humanities literature

This is an excellent quick review of Latin words and phrases. It is well arranged and even relates some of the phrases to famous Roman writers. For example, explaining malesuada Fames in terms of Virgil's Aeneid and his conception of Hell is excellent. So also is Seneca's ducunt volentem fata. There are many other references like these. Such references make it not just a dictionary of Latin words and phases but also a minor appreciation of Literature.

I keep this book next to my reading chair at all times. I do not read or understand Latin.When I come across a Latin phrase, I can open this book ad get a quick update.It increases my understanding of the text.If you ever read `The Name of the Rose' by Umberto Eco, you will see what I mean.

I bought this Latin dictionary for a person that desired to look up Latin phrases. It's at the low end of the spectrum of Latin dictionaries. There is Latin to English translation but no English to Latin translation. It's OK and serves the purpose it was bought for but if can afford a more comprehensive Latin dictionary go for it.

That's just what you will get with this guide: a LITTLE Latin. This is a good but limited resource. It includes only the most common Latin phrases, but I am glad to have bought it.

Well, Latin isn't my daily read, but if I need to know for school I will have this nice book to rely on.

I bought this copy of the dictionary because my existing copy (which had suffered extremely heavy use over the preceding year, was showing signs of just how heavily it had been used. I'd returned to my fond memories of studying Latin for 2 years at school. I found the 'pamphlets' used back then had been published as volumes now, each volume covering the corresponding pamphlets.I was going back over 45 years, and my Latin was decidedly rusty. I bought all five volumes of the text books second-hand, and began at stage volume 1, stage 1. Eleven months later, I had completed all 5 volumes, and found myself completing stage 40. I moved on then to translating passages pitched at or above GCE level. I have my eyes firmly upon Caesar's commentaries on the Gallic and civil wars. I purchased the two Latin volumes with the purely Latin text, so no cheating in the translation would be possible.Despite my treating the dictionary with immense respect (and I have four other Latin dictionaries, my most prized being a hardbacked copy of Cassell's New Latin Dictionary, published back in the 1964, and in surprisingly good condition for its age. I was elated to have obtained it for £13.However, I digress. The Desktop Latin dictionary was showing signs of its heavy usage. The binding on certain pages was showing through, and it would only be a matter of time before the binding began to give way.So, I ordered (or tried to order) another copy, only to find Amazon out of stock. I placed the order anyway, and it took several months before it came back into stock. The dictionary was then supplied, but the binding on my original copy was still holding out. So I have put the replacement to one side, until the binding on my original copy begins giving up the ghost.It has a clear font, of passable point, and is set out in a manner which is easy to follow. I have no hesitation in recommending this dictionary as a worthwhile addition to any Latin library, and students at any level in the study of Latin should find it of immense value to their ongoing studies.

I had, perhaps naïvely, expected to find an alphabetical listing of some of the more common idioms encountered in Latin texts, particularly by certain authors. This is not what this very thin book contains. It is, as it says, a list of words and phrases, but they are words and phrases often used today, inserted into documents and speeches. I did not find this useful for studying Latin texts either for language or literary purposes.

This is a great compact reference of Latin words, phrases and quotations. For sure it's not as comprehensive and thorough as my combined pairing of Jon Stone's  Latin for the Illiterati  (mostly short expressions and phrases with some longer quotations) and his  Dictionary of Latin Quotations , but this is a good selection nevertheless for quick reference or simply dipping into as a bedside book. And it beats Ehrlich's  Dictionary of Latin Tags and Phrases  into a cocked hat.Unlike the two Stone books which are straight lists of phrases plus translation, many of the expressions are accompanied by extra pertinent information, such as historical background or more detail on the literary source from whence it derives. My only complaint, if you like, is that source information is not provided for many entries which look suspiciously like literary quotations rather than common expressions, which is a shame. But I'm fault finding in saying that. It's a handy little volume. Latin for the IlliteratiDictionary of Latin QuotationsDictionary of Latin Tags and Phrases

This book interests me because I have recently taken an interest in Latin which is suited to using the least number of words for expressing ideas. Often it uses half the words required in English for the same or similar proverb.There are more than 1000 phrases to do with law, religion, human emotions and even weather. The list, of course could be added to.Each phrase has an English tranlationMany of the phrases are attributed to the likes of Horace or Virgil and an explanation of the circumstances is included.One item surprised me. I did not know that the title fidei defensor had been given to Henry Viii by Pope Leo. Seem Henry and Luther did not agree.

As a 'Via Media' or middle way ( I have just looked this up in the dictionary concerned), this is an ideal book for those who didn't study Latin at school; and doesn't want to learn the language but likes to use the odd Latin phrase to add polish or gravitas to a sentence.An excellent book that is easy to navigate; with proverbs translated into Latin, a list of Latin writers and a section with legal terms.Worth its weight in gold!