Learn Latin Vocab - OCR FOUNDATION TIER (A402)


NOUNS	1st Declension -A, -AE (all feminine)
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
CURA	CARE, WORRY	cure, curator	e.g. the museum's curator takes care of the exhibits; to cure someone you're worried about, they will need care
EPISTOLA	LETTER	epistle	the letters in the New Testament are also known as epistles
DOMINA	MISTRESS	dominate	feminine version of 'dominus'
IANUA	MAIN DOOR	janitor, January	associated with the two-faced god Janus, the god of doorways, beginnings, entrances & exits: hence connection with January
PORTA	GATE	portal	also Fr. 'la porte'; be careful not to confuse this with either 'porto' or 'portus'!
ROMA	ROME	Roman	er, yes... they finally expect you to know this one now!
SILVA	WOOD	sylvan, Transylvania	if Dracula's wooded homeland doesn't help, try thinking of a 'silva' birch tree
TABERNA	INN, BAR	tavern	deriv.; former students of Mr R. O. Marshall's excellent 'Disce Latinum' course may have noticed by now that they have a flying start with many of the 'new' GCSE words: see, all that hard work when you were little did have a point after all!
VICTORIA	VICTORY	victor, victorious	obvious deriv.'s
VITA	LIFE	vital, vitamin	it's vital: a matter of life & death
NOUNS	2nd Declension -US, -I (all masculine)
ANIMUS	MIND, SPIRIT, SOUL	animation, inanimate	inanimate objects have no life or soul; but an animated cartoon is meant to make the pictures come to life
HORTUS	GARDEN	horticulture	deriv.'; another one that may be familiar already from your earlier years!
LIBERTUS	EX-SLAVE, FREEDMAN	liberty	connected with the verb 'libero' - I set free
LIBERI, liberorum (pl)	CHILDREN	liberal (etc)	a strange one. This word really is from the adjective 'liber' meaning 'free'; originally, it may have been used to distinguish the free-born boys & girls in a household from their slave counterparts living there also. These days, maybe you can associate it with all the free-time children have, free from the cares of the world.... (sorry!)
MODUS	WAY, MANNER	mode, model	as in, to operate in manual mode, etc; a model provides the correct manner to achieve something
NOUNS	2nd Declension neuter -UM, -I
CASTRA, castrorum (pl)	CAMP	place names e.g. Lancaster, Winchester, Gloucester	notice this word goes like 'bellum' in the plural; the place names generally reflect somewhere in Britain where the Romans had originally built a legionary camp
CONSILIUM	PLAN, ADVICE, IDEA	counsel, counsellor	deriv.'s; may also help to think that it was the Consuls who had to come up with all the plans for the government (the words are connected)
SIGNUM	SIGN, SIGNAL, STANDARD	signify	the meaning 'standard' is as in 'standard-bearer' (Latin signifer) carrying the special 'sign' for the legion
NOUNS	3rd Declension, various stems and genders
AMOR, amoris (m)	LOVE	amorous	the noun from the obvious verb 'amo'; lots of abstract nouns are formed with this -OR ending
ARS, artis (f)	SKILL, ART	artist etc.	'art' in the sense of showing skill at a task; obviously not related to a certain North London football team...
CANIS, canis (c)	DOG	canine	deriv.; don't make a dog's dinner of it by mixing it up with 'cena'!
CAPUT, capitis (n)	HEAD	capital	a capital city is the head-city; 'capital punishment' originally involved cutting off someone's head; you wear a cap on your head (this is an actual derivative, in a round-about way!)
CONSUL, consulis (m)	CONSUL	consulate	the two chief officials of the state - as indeed a consul tends to be the highest native authority in a foreign country today. Compare entry for 'consilium'
IMPERATOR, imperatoris (m)	GENERAL, COMMANDER, EMPEROR	imperative, empire	the true Latin word for 'emperor' is 'princeps', but this word has the association of 'supreme army commander' ; connected with 'impero' - the one who gives the orders
LEO, leonis (m)	LION	leonine	the star-sign Leo is likely to be the most help - apart from the fact that all lions seem to be called Leo...
MERCATOR, mercatoris (m)	MERCHANT, TRADER	merchandise	close enough to the deriv.; lots of Latin nouns for 'jobs' have this -TOR ending: compare 'gladiator'
PAX, pacis (f)	PEACE	pacify	lying peacefully beside the Pacific Ocean
SENATOR, senatoris (m)	SENATOR	same word	it is actually connected with 'senex' - old (and therefore wise) enough to run the country - who mentioned Dan Quale or Sarah Palin??
TEMPUS, temporis (n)	TIME	temporary	be careful not to confuse this one with 'tempestas'!
NOUNS	4th Declension -US, -US (genders as marked)
DOMUS (f)	HOME, HOUSE	domestic	connected with 'dominus'; beware 2nd decl. case endings for certain meanings, e.g. 'domi' - 'at home'
MANUS (f)	HAND, BAND	manual	it means a hand, or a handful; hence the idea of a small group of people. Oddly, these are the only two 4th decl. nouns which are feminine!


ADJECTIVES	1st/2nd Declension: -US -A -UM, or -ER -ERA -ERUM
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
ALTER altera alterum	THE ONE, THE OTHER (of two)	alternative	given two alternatives, you can choose either the one or the other
LENTUS	SLOW	Fr. lent	if you've given up something nice for Lent, time goes very slowly!
NULLUS	NONE, NO, NOT ANY	annul, nullify	Fr. 'nul', as in 'nul points'!
QUANTUS?	HOW BIG? HOW GREAT?	quantity	the deriv. can be used to help here. This is the first of a group of 'question words' you will need for this tier
STULTUS	STUPID, FOOLISH	stultify	the association of the first 3 letters is usually enough to prompt for the meaning
SUMMUS	HIGHEST, THE TOP OF	summit	deriv.; notice that 'summus' agrees as an adjective, and does not take the genitive case: 'summus mons' = 'the TOP-OF the mountain'
TANTUS	SO GREAT, SO BIG	Fr. tant	this is the 'answer' to 'quantus', and again is the first of the so-called 'T-words' that are used particularly in Result/Consequence Clauses in this tier. Another prompt could be to use tantalise - to make someone want something 'so greatly'...
ADJECTIVES	3rd Declension
FEROX ferocis	FIERCE	ferocious	(deriv.)
FIDELIS -is -e	FAITHFUL, LOYAL	confide	especially 'Adeste Fideles' - 'O Come All Ye Faithful'; otherwise see prompts for 'fides' elsewhere
GRAVIS -is -e	HEAVY, SERIOUS	grave, gravity	connection of meanings can be seen from the idea of being gravely wounded
QUALIS -is -e	WHAT SORT OF?	quality	another of this tier's question-words; 'what sort of qualities are we looking for?'
TALIS -is -e	SUCH, OF SUCH A KIND/SORT	?	the 'answer' to 'qualis' (see remarks about 'tantus'); 'just such a talisman will bring us luck!'
ADJECTIVES	indeclinable
QUOT?	HOW MANY?	quotient	division: how many times will it divide into the number? Also, try using quota - your full quota : how many you should have
TOT	SO MANY	?	the 'answer' to 'quot' (compare 'tantus' and 'talis'); he'd drunk so many tots of whisky that he fell over; there is also a distant connection with 'total', as in 'to tot up...'


PREPOSITION	non-existent...
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
RE...	... BACK	reverse	although there is no actual preposition (the closest is possibly 'retro'),this is used very commonly as a prefix on verbs to mean 'to ... back', e.g. 'revenio - I come back'. You have already seen it with 'reduco' and 'redeo'


ADVERBS	all indeclinable
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
ADEO	SO, TO SUCH AN EXTENT	?	this will become familiar when you study Result/Consequence Clauses. It is used with verbs: 'he was so wounded that he couldn't fight any longer' (= 'to such an extent')
ECCE!	LOOK!	?	an all-purpose exclamation to draw attention to something (not necessarily visible!) Try 'By 'eck!'
ITA	SO, IN SUCH A WAY	?	this is the 'ita' in 'itaque': 'and so'; another Result Clause word. Like 'adeo', used with verbs, but compare: 'he was so wounded that he couldn't walk': i.e. 'in such a way' - in the leg, maybe - it is not interchangeable with adeo.
MAXIME	VERY MUCH, VERY GREATLY	maximise	deriv.; this is actually the superlative adverb from 'magnus/magnopere'
MINIME	(NOT IN THE) LEAST, VERY LITTLE	minimise	deriv.; superlative adverb from 'parvus/paullum'; sometimes given as the Latin for 'No!' - a word they didn't really have, preferring to answer questions negatively in far longer ways!
QUAM...?/!	HOW...?/!	?	always used with an adjective or adverb after it, e.g. 'quam alta est aqua?' - 'how deep is the water?'; or also as an exclamation: 'quam mirum!' - 'how amazing!'
QUO?	WHERE..TO?	?	'Do you know where to get tickets for Status Quo?' Obviously not how it's really used! It's a question about direction: 'where are you going (to)?'
QUOMODO?	HOW?	?	actually means 'in what way' (from 'modus'). All these last few words are used in the construction Indirect Question, as well as being simple 'direct' question words
SATIS	ENOUGH	satisfactory, satisfy	put on your best German Kommandant accent: 'Satis enough!' ('Zat is....' - groan!) A VDB classic!
TAM...	SO...	?	always used with an adjective or adverb after it, often in the lead-up to a Result/Consequence Clause (the most obvious 'T' word!) For similarities, compare the entries on 'Quantus/Tantus, Quot/Tot', etc, and also notice the difference with adeo and ita - this one is not used with verbs.
UMQUAM	EVER	?	just take the 'n' off 'numquam'!
VEHEMENTER	VIOLENTLY, LOUDLY, EXTREMELY	vehement	a good one to help improve your English vocabulary! Try 'Very-menter'


CONJUNCTIONS	all indeclinable
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
AC, ATQUE	AND	?	helps to use the '-que' ending; compare the similar words 'nec/neque'
CUM	WHEN, SINCE, (ALTHOUGH)	?	try the meanings in the order given ('although' is very unlikely!) To remember: 'I thought 'cum' meant 'with'! Since When does it have Althoughs other meanings?!'
NUM	WHETHER	?	this is the particular meaning of the word in Indirect Questions: 'He asked whether I was tired': as if you'd said 'He asked surely I was not tired'. Can also be translated 'if' but do not confuse with the next word below...!
SI	IF	same in French	'Let's si if you can remember this one!'


VERBS	1st Conjugation: -O -ARE -AVI -ATUM
LATIN	ENGLISH	DERIVATIVE	VDB PROMPT
INVITO	INVITE	invitation	nice to know there are still some easy ones!
LACRIMO	WEEP, CRY	lachrymose	there's a wine grown on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius to this day called 'Lacrima Christi': the tear(s) of Christ. It was (in-)famous for giving the worst hangovers in the Roman world... there must be a connection you can make here!
VERBS	2nd Conjugation: principal parts as shown
DEBEO debere debui debitum	OUGHT, MUST, HAVE TO, OWE	debt, debit	most often used to express obligation: we have to obey Caesar; it demonstrates well the connection between 'ought' and 'owe it'
DOCEO docere docui doctum	TEACH	doctor, doctrine	explains the original sense of a 'doctor' as a teacher
SALVE! -ete!	HELLO! GREETINGS!	Fr. salut; also salvation	actually the imperatives of the verb 'salveo' - 'to be safe & well' - so you're really saying 'Be safe!' Modern Romans are using this once again as the 'cool' way to say 'hi'!
SEDEO sedere sedi sessum	SIT	sedentary, sediment, session	use the deriv.'s; or do the prompt in reverse from 'sed' (you sit on your ...)!
TACEO tacere tacui tacitum	BE QUIET, BE SILENT	tacit, taciturn	forming (and shouting!) the imperative 'Tace!' often helps this one stick! Some have used the idea of tact but be careful not to connect them exactly.
VALE! -ete!	GOODBYE!	valiant, valour, valence, valedictory	like 'Salve!' it's actually an imperative: the verb 'valeo' means 'I am well', so you're once again saying 'Be well!' - or, as one might also put it, 'Fare-well!' This word was the traditional way of signing-off a letter.
VERBS	3rd Conjugation: various principal parts
ACCIDO -ere accidi	HAPPEN	accident	accidents are things that just happen!
ASCENDO -ere ascendi ascensum	CLIMB UP, GO UP	ascend, ascent	(deriv.'s)
COGNOSCO -ere cognovi cognitum	FIND OUT, GET TO KNOW, LEARN	recognise	ever wondered why the word 'know' has a 'k' in it? The root verb (without the 'co-' prefix) was originally 'gnosco'
DESCENDO -ere descendi descensum	CLIMB DOWN, GO DOWN, DISEMBARK	descend, descent	deriv.'s: this word is very often confused with 'discedo'. Beware!
EMO -ere emi emptum	BUY	exempt	if your cupboard is empty , you need to go shopping! If you can work out the connection with 'exempt' you are doing very well. Clue: consider the slang use of 'I'll take it' meaning 'I'll buy it'.
PROCEDO -ere processi processum	GO (FORWARD),ADVANCE	procession, proceed	deriv.'s; the most common compound of the root verb '-cedo' - 'I go'.
PROMITTO -ere promisi promissum	PROMISE	promise	a compound of 'mitto' - you send your word forward that you'll do something
QUAERO -ere quaesivi quaesitum	LOOK FOR, ASK FOR	question, inquisition	if you use the sound of the word 'in-quire' this one becomes easy
RESISTO -ere restiti	RESIST	resistance	a compound of 'sto' (originally 'sisto') - I make a stand back against something; this may partly explain why the verb puts its object in the Dative. At least it's easy enough to remember!
SURGO -ere surrexi surrectum	RISE UP, GET UP	surge, resurrection	in our old school you had to climb the stairs if you wanted to consult the school nurse: you had to 'go up to surgery'! Actually a compound of rego ('sur-rigo'),hence the principal parts. Too complicated to explain the derivation!
TRAHO -ere traxi tractum	DRAG, PULL	tractor, subtract, attractive	this one has vast numbers of derivatives! Try adding almost any of the usual prefixes to the supine stem and see what you get!
VENDO -ere vendidi venditum	SELL	vendor, vending machine	'vendidi sell it? ('when did 'e....!') Compare also Fr. 'vendre' and 'vendredi'
VIVO -ere vixi victum	BE ALIVE, LIVE	survive, revive, vivid	the abbreviation 'vix.' (for 'vixit') is often found on tombstones beside a number, to indicate how old the person was when they died
VERBS	4th Conjugation: -IO -IRE -IVI -ITUM
NESCIO	NOT KNOW	nescient, nescience	the negative of 'scio': the Romans never said 'non scio'. The same idea appears in the English derivatives!
SCIO	KNOW	science	use the deriv.'s - or 'I know how to ski!'
SENTIO -ire sensi sensum	FEEL, NOTICE, SENSE	sense, sentient, consent	deriv.'s: if you consent, you feel the same about it
VERBS	irregular conjugation
INQUIT	HE SAYS, SAID	?	not connected with inquire, but it gets you on the right track. This word is used mostly with direct speech; 'dico' has wider uses.