Here are the remaining words that you need to know for OCR GCSE Latin (A402). They should be learned in tandem with the earlier page for Foundation Tier, where you will find more explanation about the lay-out of the tables. If necessary you can also look back over the Common Entrance pages: nearly all the words there are also in the GCSE syllabus!


Even with this final group of the 'hardest' words you are required to know for GCSE, you will certainly find a few that you know already! Once again, a little more information has often been included along with the VDB prompts; future pages now under construction are intended to offer help with translation practice in the tougher language constructions you are likely to meet: Indirect Statement, Result Clauses and so on.

Thank you for sticking with us this far, and I hope that this site will continue to be useful for you - either directly for exams, or for 'old time's sake' in the future! Please continue to check back and see what else has been added.

QUICK JUMP LINKS 

To jump quickly to a particular vocab table, click on the link below:

NOUNS 1st decl: click #nouns1stdecl

NOUNS 2nd masc: click #nouns2ndmasc

NOUNS 2nd neuter: click #nouns2ndneut

NOUNS 3rd decl: click #nouns3rddecl

NOUNS 4th decl: click #nouns4thdecl

ADJECTIVES: click #adjectives

PRONOUNS: click #pronouns

PREPOSITIONS: click #prepositions

ADVERBS: click #adverbs

CONJUNCTIONS: click #conjunctions

VERBS 1st conj: click #verbs1stconj

VERBS 2nd conj: click #verbs2ndconj

VERBS 3rd conj: click #verbs3rdconj

VERBS mixed conj: click #verbsmixed

VERBS 4th conj: click #verbs4thconj

VERBS irregular: click #verbsirreg

DEPONENT VERBS: click #deponentverbs

SEMI-DEPONENT VERBS: click #semidepverbs

 

 

 

NOUNS

1st Declension -A, -AE  (feminine)

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

POENAPUNISHMENT, PENALTYpenalty

for the likeliest usage of this noun, see the entry for 'poenas do' in the verb table.

NOUNS

2nd Declension -US, -I (masculine)

CAPTIVUSPRISONERcaptive, captivatenice to have a really obvious one near the start: should give you a bit of extra confidence!
INIMICUSENEMYenemythis really is where the English word comes from! It literally means an 'un-friend' ('in-amicus'),and refers to someone who is a personal enemy as distinct from a 'hostis' - an enemy of the whole state.
MARITUShusbandmarriedthis is so close to modern European words for husband that it shouldn't cause any trouble.
NOUNS

2nd Declension neuter -UM, -I

GAUDIUMJOY, PLEASUREgaudy, gaysomething 'gaudy' originally was  brightly-coloured & cheerful - designed to make you feel happy; these days it seems to be beginning to have the 'bad-sense' idea of 'tacky' associated with it, however. Which is rather similar to what has happened to its other derivative!
IMPERIUMPOWER, EMPIRE, COMMANDimperialderiv.'s should be enough to give you this one. Connected of course to 'impero' and 'imperator'
REGNUMKINGDOMreignconnected with 'rego' and 'rex/regina'; and explains why the English word has a 'g' in it 
NOUNS3rd Declension, various stems and genders
LEGIO, legionis (f)LEGIONlegionary, legionnairewhy is such an obviously 'masculine' idea a feminine noun? Two reasons: the grammatical ending '-io' in the 3rd decl. is used for fem. words; but also (more usefully) words that refer to 'groups' or numbers of things (collective nouns) tend to be feminine in Latin - hence, for example, urbs (also feminine are most abstract nouns, apart from those ending -or). These 'rules' apply mostly to the 3rd decl.
PES, pedis (m)FOOTpedal, pedestrianeasy deriv.'s. Referring to the last entry, as it's neither a collective nor an abstract noun, pes is likely to be masc!
SANGUIS, sanguinis (m)BLOODconsanguinity, sanguinethe French word 'sang' is derived; masc again since it is obviously something that you can touch! One old pupil used to create a gruesome mind-picture of prisoners who 'sang' while they were being executed in the arena...(got it from 'Quo Vadis', I suspect!) 
SCELUS, sceleris (n)CRIME?an obvious connection can be made by thinking of a **skeleton**! This word is neuter by reason of its -us grammar ending: somewhat confusingly, 3rddecl. words in -us -oris or -us -eris are neuter, even abstract nouns! (compare virtus, -utis which is fem: a different stem). I'm sure you can think of the other most common neuter ending in the 3rd decl?
NOUNS

4th Declension -US, -US (masculine)

EXERCITUSARMYexercisean army has to go on exercises to train up for battle; in fact this is connected with the verb 'exerceo' - I train. Sadly, the gender 'rules' outlined above break down for non-3rd decl. words - but will still probably explain why another common 4th decl. word (manus) is fem.
PORTUSHARBOURportyou will already be on your guard not to confuse this with 'porto' or 'porta' - now be even more careful to spot that it's 4th declension!
VULTUSFACE, EXPRESSION?**vultures** (especially cartoon ones!) always seem to have particularly expressive faces....

 

 

 

ADJECTIVES

           1st/2nd Declension: -US -A -UM                

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

BENIGNUSKINDbenignderiv.; connected with 'bene'
DIRUSDREADFULdirederiv.; 'Dir oh dir!'
NONNULLISOME, SEVERALannul, nullifyliterally 'not none!' obviously tends to be used in the plural only.
PLENUSFULLplenty'plenty-full'
PROXIMUSNEAREST, NEXTapproximate. proxyan 'approximation' is making the nearest possible guess towards something. This is actually a sort of superlative connected with 'prope'
SCELESTUSWICKED, EVIL?the sdjective connected with 'scelus': see above for prompts!
VERUSTRUEverify, verythe original sense of the word 'very' comes from this: it is 'very' good - it is 'truly' good
ADJECTIVES 3rd Declension
  BREVIS -is -eSHORTbrief, abbreviationderiv.'s should be enough; musicians are often confused as to why a semi-breve (let alone an actual breve!) is nowadays the longest note in written music!
DILIGENS, diligentisCAREFULdiligentso that's what 'diligent' means....!
INFELIX, infelicisUNLUCKY, UNHAPPYinfelicitousnegative version of 'felix'. Unhappy because of ill-fortune, rather than just naturally miserable!

 

 

PRONOUN

       indefinite  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

QUIDAM quaedam quoddam

, A (CERTAIN)

?

this is an awkward one, both in its declension and its meaning. It declines (more or less) like 'qui quae quod' with '-dam' (unchangeable) attached as a suffix. Some cases of 'qui' are slightly altered, with a final 'm' changing to an 'n' - this should be familiar from the pronoun 'idem'. It is used to introduce a new character in a story: 'There lived in the same town a (certain) shepherd....'; sometimes the best English is produced by using just 'a/an'; you may need to experiment with 'some', 'one', ' a particular...' or even 'some...or other', if 'a certain...' doesn't sound right! It is unfortunately very common in Latin!

 

 

PREPOSITION

     (+ accusative)  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

APUDAT THE HOUSE OF, WITH, AMONGST, IN THE WORKS OF?this unusual preposition corresponds to the French word 'chez', and is used in the same way in Latin. It is surprisingly easy to remember! If not, try thinking of the Kwik-E-Mart (at the house of Apu......)

 

 

ADVERBS

 all indeclinable  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

ANTEA

BEFORE(HAND),PREVIOUSLY

anterior

obviously connected with 'ante' and 'antequam'; all three of these, confusingly, in English can mean 'before'; this is the adverb, corresponding to 'postea', which you have learned already.

LIBENTERGLADLY, WILLINGLY?it is often tempting to translate this as 'freely', given its similarity to 'liber'; the meaning is pretty close (but not recommended!) It is perhaps closer to the expression 'ad lib(itum)' - meaning 'at your pleasure' 
MAGISMORE (GREATLY)magnify (from magnus)this is in fact the comparative adverb from 'magnopere'; all the degrees of comparison (adjective or adverb!) from magnus are irregular. A regional way of remembering it could be to inquire whether someone 'likes haggis magis than neeps' (possibly one of VDB's most cringeworthy efforts...!)
MULTOMUCH, A LOTmultiply, etc.an adverb formed from 'multus' (there is also 'multum'); the equivalent of the modern Italian 'molto'
POSTRIDIEON THE NEXT DAYposterior, postpone etc.closely connected of course to all the variations of 'post'. This one has a bit of 'dies' attached, and this is the clue to its actual meaning. 
PRIMOFIRST(LY)prime, primitivean adverb from 'primus' - there is also 'primum' (compare 'multo' above)
QUAM (+ a superlative)AS....AS POSSIBLE?the top of the ladder as far as comparison goes! Easily the most common of these expressions is 'quam celerrime'. It's almost as if one were saying: celerrime - very quickly: quam celerrime - how very quickly (is that)! 
QUANDO?WHEN?Fr. quandapart from being very similar in French, this is exactly the same word in modern Italian (and Spanish!) Do not confuse it with 'ubi', which only means 'when' in the sense of a conjunction ('when we arrived, we saw our friends'); the adverbial/question meaning of ubi is of course 'where'.
SIMULAT THE SAME TIMEsimultaneousthe deriv. should solve any problems with this one
UNDE?WHERE ... FROM??'where did you get those "unde's" from...??'

 

 

CONJUNCTIONS

       all indeclinable  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

ENIM

FOR

?

think of this as a sort of 'compound' of 'nam' ('e-nim'). It is important to understand that although this word will probably come 2nd word in the Latin clause, it must be translated first.

 NISI

IF...NOT, UNLESS?this is the negative of 'si': the Romans never said 'si...non...'
SIMULACAS SOON ASsimultaneousrelated to 'simul': so it really means 'at the same time as...'

 

 

VERBS

       1st Conjugation: -O -ARE -AVI -ATUM  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

CELO

HIDE

conceal

we've had people hiding in the cellar (which is a related derivative); or not knowing where to hide their **cello**...(which isn't!) 

COGITO

THINK, CONSIDERcogitateold **codgers** sitting around in their basket-chairs just thinking; Descartes' famous maxim: cogito ergo sum 
OROBEGoratororators standing on the platform begging their audience to listen to their arguments
POENAS DO dare dedi datumBE PUNISHED, PAY THE PENALTYpenaltyIn Latin, to 'give punishment' rather meant the opposite to what one would assume
PUTOTHINKcomputera computer is a device that does your thinking with you (com = cum); who said 'for you'?
SPEROHOPEdesperatethe verb associated with 'spes': if you are de-sperate your hope has gone down from you; also Fr. 'esperer'
VERBS2nd Conjugation: principal parts as shown
APPAREO -ere apparui apparitumAPPEARapparitionalmost the same word
FAVEO -ere favi fautumFAVOUR, SUPPORTfavouriteagain, close enough to English not to be a big problem; it puts its object in the Dative: 'give support to...'
IACEO -ere iacuiLIE DOWNadjacentit needs great care not to mistake this for 'iacio'; look for the letter '-i-' at the end of the stem. If it's there, it's from IACIO (because when you throw things, you need to keep your 'eye' in!) Obviously the best way is to go by the meaning in the sentence - only one of them is likely to fit in sensibly!
VERBS3rd Conjugation: various principal parts
CADO -ere cecidi casumFALLoccasion, cascadesomething falls on a particular occasion; a cascade is a water-fall; the golfer's **caddy** dropped all his clubs....
    INCENDO -ere incendi incensumSET ON FIRE, BURNincendiary, incensehence also the meaning to be 'incensed' with anger. The root verb 'cando' gives the derivative candle
OPPRIMO -ere oppressi oppressumCRUSH, OVERWHELMoppress, pressurethere is again a root verb 'premo' with similar pr. parts which gives the 'press' derivatives more directly
REDDO -ere reddidi redditumGIVE BACK, RETURNrender, renditionliterally 're-' + 'do'. All compounds of 'do' use the 3rd conjugation principal parts '-do -dere -didi -ditum': you have seen plenty already (e.g. trado). Beware of muddling this one with 'redeo' - especially as they can both have the meaning 'return'!
RUMPO -ere rupi ruptumBURST, BREAKrupture, eruptthis wonderful verb scarcely needs prompts to remember - once you've seen it and its derivatives I challenge you to forget it!
TOLLO -ere sustuli sublatumRAISE, REMOVE, LIFTextolsome have found the idea of a **toll**-bridge helpful: it has to raise up and remove itself for you to pass; the verb seems to have 'merged' with a now missing similar verb, probably 'subfero' - 'carry from underneath'. It's also a Latin slang word for 'steal' - compare English 'lift'. I have sometimes wondered if fero's own 'tuli' originally had connections with 'tollo' - there is an old form of the perfect: 'tetuli'. Answers on a postcard please (or use the contact form!) 
VERTO -ere verti versumTURNconvert, reversealso a connection with vertical: what goes (straight) up, must (turn round and) come down again!
VERBSMixed Conjugation: various Principal Parts
CONFICIO -ere confeci confectumFINISH, WEAR OUTconfectioneryoriginally had the sense of 'bringing things together' so that everything was in place. Hence the old meaning of 'confectionery' - nicely decorated sweetmeats, etc. Nowadays Mr Tesco is less choosy... but you can still say 'I've finished all my sweets!' 
RAPIO -ere rapui raptumSEIZE, GRAB rape, rapturethe equally common compound 'corripio' can suggest **rip**; the other derivatives are fairly obvious
VERBS4th Conjugation: Principal Parts as given
PERVENIO -ire perveni perventumREACH, ARRIVE ATventurealmost the same meaning as 'advenio'; slightly more of the idea 'come through to...'
VERBSirregular conjugation
AUFERO auferre abstuli ablatumTAKE AWAY, REMOVEablativea compound of  'ab' +'fero'. The idea of the Ablative case ('away from') may help the most.
COEPI coepisseBEGINincipientderiv. is technically from the equally common (& related) verb 'incipio'. This is a so-called 'defective' verb (not very PC these days!) It has no present stem or tenses formed from it, beginning its conjugation in the Perfect. The idea is possibly something like: as soon as you 'begin' something, you have already begun it
MALO malle maluiPREFER?you know volo & nolo... here's the third verb in the group! It's a (massive) contraction of 'magis volo' - 'want (it) more'. Its similar Present tense formation to the other two gives it a wonderful 2nd pers. sing.: 'mavis'- do you really prefer Mavis?
OFFERO offerre obtuli oblatumOFFERoffer, oblationthe only real problem with this compound of 'fero' is identifying it in its Perfect and Supine forms.
REFERO referre rettuli relatumBRING BACK, RELATErefer, relateeasy connections amongst its derivations and principal parts. Consider too the verb 'transfero' -'I bring across' - can you see where its supine leads you?

 

 

VERBS

       DEPONENT: 1st Conjugation  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

CONOR conari conatus sum

TRY

?

if you've scored a try, you might need the balancing 'cone' to help you kick the conversion

HORTOR hortari hortatus sum

ENCOURAGE, URGEcohort, exhortationthe general gathered the cohort and encouraged them to fight well; literally 'co-hort': 'encourage together'
MIROR mirari miratus sumWONDER AT, BE AMAZED, ADMIREmiracle, admirationas you admire yourself in your 'mir(r)or', you are amazed at what you see
PRECOR precari precatus sumPRAYdeprecatethe bad sense of 'de-precate' originates in 'calling prayers/curses down' on something. The evening house-assembly in one well-known public school is called 'preces' - literally 'prayers' 
VERBSDEPONENT: 2nd Conjugation
VIDEOR videri visus sumSEEM, APPEAR visibly'video' in the passive (indistinguishable from this) would mean 'I am seen': if you are seen to be something, you seem to be it.
VERBSDEPONENT: 3rd Conjugation
LOQUOR loqui locutus sumSPEAKeloquent, loquaciousderiv.'s; beware of confusing this with 'locus'!
PROFICISCOR proficisci profectus sumSET OUT?often confused with 'progredior': take the first 'different' letter: 'f' comes before 'g': you have to set out before you can go forward
SEQUOR sequi secutus sumFOLLOWsequence, consequences(deriv.'s)
VERBSDEPONENT: Mixed Conjugation
EGREDIOR egredi egressus sumGO OUT, DISEMBARKsee 'progredior'compound of the non-existent (!) 'verb' gradior which would have meant basically to 'take a step' This one has the prefix 'e' for 'out'.
INGREDIOR ingredi ingressus sumGO IN, ENTERsee 'progredior'same idea, this time with the prefix 'in'
MORIOR mori mortuus sumDIEmoribund, mortuaryyou should already know 'mortuus' used as an adjective; it's really the perfect participle of this verb: morior: I die; mortuus sum: I have died, therefore = I am dead 
PATIOR pati passus sumSUFFER, ALLOWpatient (in both senses!),passivedo you suffer when you see a passive verb? The derivative 'patient' is excellent to help connect the two apparently different meanings
PROGREDIOR progredi progressus sumGO FORWARD, ADVANCEprogressivethis is the most useful (and common) of the compounds of 'gradior'. See note on egredior: the 'pro-' prefix as always means 'forward'. See also note on 'proficiscor' for a way not to muddle them up!
REGREDIOR regredi regressus sumGO BACK, RETURNregressionall these '-gredior' deponent verbs are very useful, in that they make it possible to express the sense of 'having gone somewhere' - deponent verbs being active in meaning. No other Latin verbs possess active past participles.

 

 

VERBS

       SEMI-DEPONENT2nd Conjugation  

LATIN

ENGLISH

DERIVATIVE

VDB PROMPT

AUDEO audere ausus sum

DARE

audacious

connected with 'audax', and has a similar 'bad' connotation: to be rash - rather too daring. " 'Ow dare 'e do that!" Nobody has ever adequately explained to me the existence of 'semi-deponent' verbs - nor why they seem mostly to be 2nd conjugation!

GAUDEO gaudere gavisus sum

REJOICE, BE PLEASEDgaudy, gayconnected with the noun 'gaudium'; probably the verb was originally spelled 'gavideo' and may even have had some connection with 'video': seeing with joy? This '-vi-' contraction into '-u-' is also evident in 'navigo/nauta (navita)' 
SOLEO solere solitus sumBE ACCUSTOMED, BE USED (TO)?sad to have to end on such an awkward one, one of the 'sole' vocab words with no really helpful prompts - not what we're accustomed to!