National Latin Exam (NLE) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Ablative absolute

A noun or pronoun plus a participle, both in the ablative case, forming a phrase grammatically independent of the main clause; translated as 'with/after/when/since X having been done'.

Indirect statement

An accusative subject with an infinitive, introduced by a verb of saying, thinking, or perceiving; the infinitive's tense shows time relative to the main verb, not absolute time.

Purpose clause

A subordinate clause using ut or ne plus the subjunctive to express the purpose of the main action; translated as 'in order to' or 'so that'.

Result clause

A subordinate clause using ut or ut non plus the subjunctive after a main clause containing tam, ita, tantus, or adeo; translated as 'so...that'.

Indirect question

A subordinate clause introduced by an interrogative word and containing a subjunctive verb; translated as a noun clause, e.g., 'he asked what was happening'.

Cum clause

A clause introduced by cum; with the subjunctive it means 'when, since, or although', while with the indicative it means 'when' in simple narrative time.

First declension

Nouns mostly feminine ending in -a in the nominative singular, with genitive singular -ae; e.g., puella, puellae; includes some masculine nouns like nauta.

Third declension

Nouns of varied gender with genitive singular -is; the stem is found by dropping the genitive ending, e.g., rex, regis; corpus, corporis.

Principal parts

The four forms of a Latin verb: present indicative, infinitive, perfect indicative, and perfect passive participle; e.g., amo, amare, amavi, amatus.

Deponent verb

A verb passive in form but active in meaning, such as loquor, sequor, or proficiscor; its perfect participle may still function passively.

Gerundive of obligation

A future passive participle expressing necessity or obligation, often with a dative of agent, e.g., mihi faciendum est, 'I must do it'.

Dative of indirect object

The dative case marks the person to whom something is given, said, or shown, used with verbs such as do, narro, monstro, placeo, and credo.

Hortatory subjunctive

A first-person plural subjunctive used for exhortation, translated with 'let us', e.g., eamus, 'let us go'.

Contrary-to-fact conditional

A conditional sentence expressing an unreal condition: imperfect subjunctive in both clauses for present time, pluperfect subjunctive in both clauses for past time.

res publica

Literally 'the public thing'; the Latin term for the Roman state or commonwealth, from which the English word 'republic' derives.

causa / gratia

Ablative nouns meaning 'for the sake of'; they follow a genitive, e.g., urbis videndae causa, 'for the sake of seeing the city'.

portare derivatives

From Latin portare, 'to carry': English portable, transport, import, export, report, and porter all preserve the sense of carrying.

dicere derivatives

From Latin dicere, 'to say': English dictate, predict, verdict, contradict, and dictionary all derive from this high-frequency verb.

Common prefixes

Latin prefixes such as ad-, ab-, con-, de-, in-, per-, prae-, re-, sub-, and trans- modify meaning and recur in thousands of English derivatives.

hostis vs. hospes

Hostis means 'enemy' while hospes means 'guest or host'; the English 'hostile' comes from hostis, and 'hospitality' from hospes.

Roman numerals

I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, D=500, M=1000; a smaller numeral before a larger one is subtracted, e.g., IV=4, IX=9, XL=40.

Romulus and Remus

Twin sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, raised by a she-wolf; Romulus founded Rome, traditionally in 753 BCE, and killed Remus in a quarrel.

Aeneas

Trojan hero, son of Anchises and Venus, who fled Troy and traveled to Italy; Vergil's Aeneid makes him the ancestor of the Roman people.

Augustus

Born Octavian, he defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BCE and became the first Roman emperor in 27 BCE, beginning the Principate.

Julius Caesar

Roman general and dictator, conqueror of Gaul, author of the Commentaries; assassinated on the Ides of March, 44 BCE, by a senatorial conspiracy.

Cicero

Roman orator, statesman, and author; consul in 63 BCE, where he suppressed the Catilinarian conspiracy; his speeches and letters survive in quantity.

Jupiter

King of the Roman gods, god of sky and thunder, equivalent to Greek Zeus; his temple stood on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

Minerva

Roman goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war, equivalent to Greek Athena; her festival, the Quinquatria, was celebrated in March.

Colosseum

The Flavian Amphitheater in Rome, dedicated in 80 CE under Titus; it hosted gladiatorial games and held tens of thousands of spectators.

paterfamilias

The male head of a Roman household, holding legal authority over family members, slaves, and property within the familia.

Vergil

Author of the Aeneid, the Bucolics, and the Georgics; his epic links Rome's founding to Aeneas and was a cornerstone of Roman education.

Ovid

Roman poet of the Metamorphoses and the Amores; exiled to Tomis by Augustus in 8 CE for reasons he describes only vaguely.