Are We Us? — Nouns

The same suffixes—ārius, tōrius, and sōrius—that formed a number of adjectives in this post can also be put to use as nouns with a regular range of meanings. This meaning is often restricted to the gender of the noun formed. Again, these denote a kind of belonging.

-ārius (m.) employee in a particular field

• argentārius, -ī silversmith, broker
• coriārius, -ī leather worker
• Corinthiārius, -ī Corinthian bronze worker (for those not in the know, Corinthian bronze had Gucci bag status in antiquity)
• mirābiliārius, -ī miracle worker
• operārius, ī worker, day-laborer

-ārius (f.) thing associated with a particular field

• aerāria, -ae copper mine
• argentāria, -ae bank
• arēnāriae, -ārum sandpits (arēna, sand)
• Asināria, -ae the play The Ass (with fabula, -ae implied)

-ārium (n.) thing (often a place) associated with a field

• aerārium, -ī treasury
• tepidārium, -ī warm bath
• sūdārium, -ī towel
• salārium, -ī salary
• calendārium, -ī notebook (calendae, calends)

-tōria / -sōria (f.) and -tōrium / -sōrium (n.) thing (often a place) associated with a field

• Agitātōria, –ae The Driver by Platus (agitātor, driver, with fabula, -ae implied)
• auditōrium, -ī lecture room
• tentōrium, -ī tent (tendō, stretch)
• tēctōrium, -ī plaster (tectus, covered)
• portōrium, -ī toll (portus, harbor)

The Essential AG: 254.1-5

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The Latin, or There and Back Again

I thought I should share two resources dear to my study of Latin. These are twin tools I use when searching for English words with Latin roots, or Latin words with English derivatives.

Certainly, I profit immensely from becoming tongue-tied between the two languages—if that makes sense.

There’s some danger here. Certain common Latin words, like prōspiciō, have comparatively rare English derivatives like prospicient. Naturally, after a few weeks of reading Cicero, prospicient feels like an ordinary word because you encounter its root relative so often in the text. It’s not, and I get looks for letting it loose in casual conversation. Beware.

For finding English derivatives, I use this Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_words_with_English_derivatives

Now, with a simple [ command/control+f ], it’s easy to search for either Latin roots or English derivatives.

However, for finding Latin roots of English words, I prefer this handy etymology dictionary, which reveals the precise history of many English words.

http://www.etymonline.com/

Neither of these tools is nearly comprehensive—so if there’s a particular world you’re interested in, a simple Google search might work. That said, if the words you’re after aren’t on either of these sites, (in my experience) they probably aren’t on Google, either.

If readers have any additional sites to suggest, I’m all ears!

Happy Hunting!