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This glossary defines the grammatical terms used in the Latin section of the site. Each entry gives a short definition, a Latin example where one helps, and a pointer to the page that treats the topic in full. Latin names are given in italics where the traditional name is useful. New entries are added as new pages are written. Terms are listed alphabetically; the pages where each is explained are linked.
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Ablative (Latin ablātīvus). The case of means, manner, cause, separation, place where and from which, and time when. It answers by what? with what? from what? where? when? Example: linguā, in the language. See Ablative and locative.
Accent. The prominence given to one syllable of a word. In Latin it falls by the rule of the penult: on the penult if it is long, otherwise on the antepenult. Example: a-MĪ-cus, DO-mi-nus. See Foundations.
Accusative (Latin accūsātīvus). The case of the direct object, the goal of motion, extent of space and time, and the object of many prepositions. Example: arma virumque. See Accusative.
Active voice. The voice in which the subject performs the action: amat, he loves. The opposite is the passive. See Verbs.
Adjective. A word that describes a noun and agrees with it in gender, number and case. Latin adjectives are declined. Example: bonus, -a, -um. See Adjectives and adverbs.
Adverb. An invariable word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb: bene, well; nōn, not.
Adverbial. Any word or phrase that works like an adverb, answering when, where, how, why, by what means: in agrō, cum cūrā. See The simple sentence.
Agreement (concord). The matching of one word's form to another's. The verb agrees with its subject in person and number; the adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number and case; a predicate noun agrees with its subject in case. See The simple sentence.
Antecedent. The noun or pronoun to which a relative pronoun refers back. The relative agrees with it in gender and number.
Antepenult. The third syllable from the end of a word. The accent falls on it when the penult is short. See Foundations.
Apposition. A noun placed beside another noun to explain it, in the same case: Rōmulus, rēx Rōmānōrum. See Nominative and vocative.
Article. A word meaning a or the. Latin has no articles: rēx may be king, a king or the king.
Attributive adjective. An adjective that stands next to its noun as part of the noun phrase: populus Rōmānus. Compare predicate adjective.
Auxiliary verb. A verb that helps to form tenses of another verb. In Latin, sum is the auxiliary of the perfect passive: amātus est.
Case. The form of a noun, pronoun or adjective that shows its function in the sentence. Latin has six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, vocative) and traces of a seventh, the locative. See Nouns and Uses of the cases.
Clause. A group of words with its own subject and finite verb. A main clause can stand alone; a subordinate clause depends on another. See Subordinate clauses.
Cognate accusative. An accusative with the same root as the intransitive verb that governs it: vītam vīvere, to live a life. See Accusative.
Collective noun. A singular noun that names a group, such as pars or multitūdō. It may take a plural verb by sense. See The simple sentence.
Comparison. The formation of the positive, comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives and adverbs: altus, altior, altissimus. See Comparison and adverbs.
Conjugation. The system of forms of a verb, and also each of the four classes into which verbs are sorted by the vowel before the infinitive ending -re: 1st -āre, 2nd -ēre, 3rd -ere (with the -iō verbs), 4th -īre. See Verbs.
Conjunction. An invariable word that joins words or clauses: et, sed, quia.
Consonant stem. A noun or adjective whose stem ends in a consonant, as most 3rd declension nouns do: rēx, rēgis. Contrast i-stem.
Contraction. The merging of two vowels or syllables into one: amāstī for amāvistī. See Indicative active: perfect system.
Copula. A verb that links the subject to a predicate noun or adjective, chiefly sum. Also called a linking verb: Gallia est magna.
Dative (Latin datīvus). The case of the indirect object, the person who benefits or is harmed, and the possessor with sum. Example: vītae, for life. See Dative.
Declension. The system of forms of a noun, pronoun or adjective, and also each of the five classes of nouns, identified by the genitive singular: 1st -ae, 2nd -ī, 3rd -is, 4th -ūs, 5th -ēī or -eī. To decline a word is to give its forms. See Nouns.
Defective. Lacking some of the forms normally expected. A defective noun lacks a number or some cases; a defective verb lacks certain tenses or moods (ōdī, meminī).
Demonstrative. A pronoun or adjective that points out a person or thing: hic, ille, is. See Pronouns.
Deponent verb. A verb that has passive forms but an active meaning: hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum, I encourage. A semi-deponent has active forms in the present system and passive forms in the perfect. See Deponent and semi-deponent verbs.
Dictionary form (headword). The form under which a word is listed. For nouns: nominative, genitive and gender; for adjectives: the nominative forms of each gender; for verbs: the four principal parts. See Nouns and Verbs.
Diphthong. A vowel sound that combines two vowels in one syllable. Latin has ae, au and oe, and rarely ei, eu, ui. A diphthong is always long. See Foundations.
Direct object. The person or thing that receives the action of a transitive verb, in the accusative: Brūtus Caesarem amat. See Accusative.
Enclitic. A word that cannot stand alone and attaches to the end of the previous word: -que, -ne, -ve. It moves the accent to the syllable before it: vi-RUM-que. See Foundations.
Ending. The part of an inflected word that follows the stem and carries the grammatical information: in rosārum, the stem is rosā- and the ending -rum.
Finite verb. A verb form that shows person, number, tense, voice and mood, and can serve as the main verb of a clause. Contrast the non-finite forms.
Future. The tense that refers to a time after the present: amābō, I shall love. See Indicative active: present system.
Future perfect. The tense for an action that will be completed before a future moment: amāverō, I shall have loved. See Indicative active: perfect system.
Gender. The grouping of nouns as masculine, feminine or neuter. It is a fixed property of each noun and governs the agreement of adjectives and pronouns. See Nouns.
Genitive (Latin genetīvus). The case of possession, relationship, description and the whole to which a part belongs. It answers whose? of what? Example: populī, of the people. See Genitive.
Gerund. A verbal noun in -ndī, -ndō, -ndum: amandī, of loving. It exists only in the oblique cases. See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Gerundive. A verbal adjective in -ndus, -nda, -ndum, passive in sense and often expressing obligation: amandus, to be loved, deserving love. See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Government. The way a word demands a particular case of another word: a verb governs its object, a preposition governs its noun. Faveō governs the dative, ad the accusative. See Uses of the cases.
i-stem. A noun or adjective of the 3rd declension whose stem originally ended in -i-, with genitive plural in -ium and, for neuters, ablative singular in -ī and nominative plural in -ia. 3rd declension adjectives follow the i-stem pattern. See Adjectives and adverbs.
Imperative. The mood of command: carpe diem. The present imperative has the second person only. See Indicative active: present system.
Imperfect. The past tense that describes continuing, repeated or background action: amābam, I was loving, I used to love. See Indicative active: present system.
Impersonal verb. A verb used only in the third person singular (and the infinitive), without a definite subject: pudet, it shames; oportet, it is necessary.
Indicative. The mood of statements and questions of fact. See Verbs.
Indirect object. The person to or for whom the action is done, in the dative: Nauta puellae rosam dat. See Dative.
Indirect statement (indirect speech). A report of what someone says, thinks or perceives, in Latin expressed by an accusative subject and an infinitive: Dīcit Caesarem vēnisse. See Indirect speech.
Infinitive. The verb form that names the action without person or number: amāre, to love. It is the second principal part. See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Inflection. The change of a word's form to show grammatical function. Nouns, pronouns and adjectives are declined; verbs are conjugated. See Foundations.
Interjection. An invariable word that expresses emotion: ō, heu.
Intransitive. Of a verb: not taking a direct object. Caesar venit. Such verbs normally have no passive.
Linking verb. See copula.
Locative (Latin locātīvus). The case of place where, surviving only for towns and a few common words: Rōmae, domī, humī. See Ablative and locative.
Long by nature, long by position. A vowel is long by nature when it is inherently long or part of a diphthong. A syllable is long by position when a short vowel is followed by two consonants (or x, z); the vowel stays short. See Foundations.
Macron. The mark over a vowel that shows it is long: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū. It is a modern editorial device, not part of Roman spelling. See Foundations.
Mood. The category of the verb that shows the speaker's attitude to the action: indicative, subjunctive, imperative. See Verbs.
Neuter. The third gender. Neuter nouns have identical nominative and accusative forms, and the plural of both ends in -a. See Nouns.
Nominative (Latin nominātīvus). The case of the subject and the predicate noun, and the form given in the dictionary. See Nominative and vocative.
Non-finite. Of verb forms that do not show person and number: the infinitive, participles, gerund, gerundive and supine. See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Noun. A word that names a person, place, thing or idea. Latin nouns are declined for case and number and have a fixed gender. See Nouns.
Number. The category that distinguishes singular (one) from plural (more than one). Latin has no dual.
Object. The word that receives or completes the action of a verb. See direct object and indirect object.
Parts of speech. The classes of words: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Latin has no articles. See Foundations.
Participle. A verbal adjective that shares the voice and tense of the verb but is declined like an adjective. Latin has three: the present active (amāns), the perfect passive (amātus) and the future active (amātūrus). See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Passive voice. The voice in which the subject receives the action: amātur, he is loved. Only transitive verbs normally have a passive. See Indicative passive.
Penult. The second syllable from the end of a word, which decides the accent. See Foundations.
Perfect. The tense for a completed action, used both as the simple past (I loved) and as the present perfect (I have loved): amāvī. See Indicative active: perfect system.
Perfect system. The set of tenses built on the perfect stem: perfect, pluperfect and future perfect (and their subjunctives and the perfect infinitive). See Verbs.
Person. The category that distinguishes the first (the speaker), second (the person addressed) and third (anyone or anything else).
Personal ending. The ending that shows the person and number of a finite verb: -ō, -s, -t, -mus, -tis, -nt in the active. See Verbs.
Pluperfect. The tense for an action completed before a past moment: amāveram, I had loved. See Indicative active: perfect system.
Plural. The number that denotes more than one. A plural-only noun (plūrālia tantum) has no singular: arma, moenia. See Nouns.
Postpositive. A word that cannot stand first in its clause and normally comes second: autem, enim, igitur. See The simple sentence.
Predicate. What is said about the subject: the verb with its objects and complements. See The simple sentence.
Predicate accusative. The second accusative with verbs of making, calling and choosing, agreeing with the object: Cicerōnem cōnsulem creāvērunt. See Accusative.
Predicate adjective, predicate nominative. An adjective or noun that completes a linking verb and stands in the nominative, agreeing with the subject: Gallia est magna; Homō sum. See Nominative and vocative.
Preposition. An invariable word that stands before a noun and governs the accusative or the ablative: ad urbem, ab urbe. See Uses of the cases.
Present. The tense of action in progress or habitual: amō, I love, I am loving. See Indicative active: present system.
Present system. The set of tenses built on the present stem: present, imperfect and future (and the present and imperfect subjunctive, the imperatives and the present participle). See Verbs.
Principal parts. The four forms by which a verb is listed in the dictionary and from which all other forms are derived: amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum. See Verbs.
Pronoun. A word that stands in for a noun: ego, is, quī. See Pronouns.
Quantity. The length of a vowel or syllable, long or short. It distinguishes words and forms: venit, vēnit. See Foundations.
Reduplication. The repetition of the first syllable of a verb stem to form the perfect: currō, cucurrī, dō, dedī. See Verbs.
Relative pronoun. A pronoun that introduces a subordinate clause and refers back to an antecedent: quī, quae, quod. See Pronouns.
Singular. The number that denotes one.
Stem. The part of a word to which the endings are added. The stem of a noun is found by removing the genitive ending: rēg- from rēgis. A verb has a present stem, a perfect stem and a participle stem, found from the second, third and fourth principal parts. See Nouns and Verbs.
Subject. The word or phrase that the sentence is about, in the nominative, with which the verb agrees. See The simple sentence.
Subjunctive. The mood of will, wish, possibility and many subordinate clauses. See Subjunctive.
Substantive. An adjective or participle used as a noun: bonī, the good. See Adjectives and adverbs.
Supine. A verbal noun in -um or -ū, the fourth principal part in the traditional dictionary entry: amātum. See Infinitives, participles, gerund, gerundive, supine.
Syllable. A unit of pronunciation containing one vowel or diphthong. A Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs. See Foundations.
Tense. The category of the verb that shows time and completeness: present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect and future perfect. See Verbs.
Tense sign. The element between the stem and the ending that shows the tense: -bā- in the imperfect, -bi- in the future of the 1st and 2nd conjugations. See Indicative active: present system.
Transitive. Of a verb: taking a direct object in the accusative. Amō, videō.
Ultima. The last syllable of a word. The accent never falls on it, apart from rare exceptions. See Foundations.
Verb. A word that expresses an action or state, conjugated for person, number, tense, voice and mood. See Verbs.
Vocative (Latin vocātīvus). The case of direct address: Catilīna, domine. See Nominative and vocative.
Voice. The category of the verb that shows whether the subject acts (active) or is acted on (passive). See Verbs.
Vowel. A speech sound made without obstruction. Latin has five vowels, each long or short, plus y in Greek words. See Foundations.
Word order. The sequence of words in a sentence. In Latin it is free, because the endings carry the grammar, and is used for emphasis; the unmarked order puts the verb last. See The simple sentence.
The traditional Latin names, which appear in older grammars and dictionaries:
| English | Latin |
|---|---|
| nominative | nominātīvus |
| genitive | genetīvus |
| dative | datīvus |
| accusative | accūsātīvus |
| ablative | ablātīvus |
| vocative | vocātīvus |
| locative | locātīvus |
| present | praesēns |
| imperfect | imperfectum |
| perfect | perfectum |
| pluperfect | plūsquamperfectum |
| future | futūrum |
| indicative | indicātīvus |
| imperative | imperātīvus |
| infinitive | īnfīnītīvus |
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