28.08.24: follow-up on previous post 'how cats show their emotions' [1]; level 1

affectus, -ūs [4/m]: mood; emotion

animus, -ī [2/m]: has many meanings e.g. life, soul but, in this context, “mind”

It’s one of these words which take a bit of thought when translating from Latin:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/animus#Latin

cattus, -ī [2/m] is a Late Latin / Mediaeval Latin word, the origins of which are unclear. It is an example of a Wanderwort, a wandering word that appears in different languages possibly through trade.

Classical Latin: fēlēs, -is [3/f]

[1] cūriōsus, -a, -um

The suffix –(i)ōsus is added to nouns to convey “full of” (whatever the noun is) i.e. cūra, -ae [1/f]: care; attention > curiōsus, -a, -um: [i] careful [ii] curious

lacrima, -ae [1/f]: tear > lacrimōsus, -a, -um: weeping [= full of tears]

ventus, -ī [2/m]: wind > ventōsus, -a, -um: windy [= full of wind]

The ending, again often through French, ends up in English derivatives:

ambitiō, ambitiōnis [3/f]: desire for popularity > ambitiōsus, -a, -um > Engl. ambitious

glōria, -ae [1/f]: glory > glōriōsus, -a, -um > Engl. glorious

lūmen, lūminis [3/n]: light > lūminōsus, -a, -um > Engl. luminous

nervus, -ī [2/m]: [i] (physical) sinew; tendon; nerve > nervōsus, -a, -um > Engl. nervous

Note:

[i] Some English derivatives ending in –(i)ous were taken directly from Latin adjectives which did not have -ōsus, three of which are in the list:

ānxius, -a, -um > Engl. anxious

cautus, -a, -um > Engl. careful; cautious

sollicitus, -a, -um: worried > Engl. solicitous (showing care or concern)

Further examples:

ātrox, ātrocis: fierce, cruel > Engl. atrocious

vorāx, vorācis: gluttonous > Engl. voracious

[ii] The other point to look out for is that original Latin words often had wider meanings than the English derivatives, for example:

genus, generis [3/n]: birth; origin > generōsus, -a, -um: [i] well-born; well-bred [ii] generous > Engl: generous i.e. the English meaning is narrower than the original Latin.

[2] amīcus can be both and a noun and an adjective

[i] amīcus, -ī [2/m]: friend

[ii] amīcus, -a, -um: friendly

The opposite of both the adjective and the noun is [i] inimīcus, -ī [2/m]: enemy and [ii] inimīcus, -a, -um: hostile; note that Latin makes a distinction between hostis, -is [3/m]: enemy, in the sense of a military enemy, whereas inimīcus refers to a personal enemy

The prefix in- in Latin can create opposites:

cautus, -a, -um: cautious; careful │ incautus, -a, -um: incautious; careless

grātus, -a, -um: pleasing; grateful │ ingrātus, -a, -um: disagreeable; ungrateful

Again, look at grātus which may mean ‘grateful’ but can have other meanings such as ‘pleasing’ or ‘acceptable’. This is something of which you need to be aware when dealing with any English derivatives of Latin i.e. the meaning in context may not be what immediately springs to mind when you first see the word.

[3] per- is a prefix which intensifies the meaning of the root word:

territus, -a, -um: frightened > perterritus, -a, -um: (thoroughly) frightened

multī, -ae, -a: many > permultī, -ae, -a: very many