The adverb multō ‘by much’, originally an ablative of multus, is used when emphasising the amount of difference; in grammar this is known as the ablative of degree of difference i.e. by how much something / someone is taller, wider, richer etc.
Rēx multō fortior quam frāter est. │ The king is much / far braver than his brother.
Ego in terram eō multō pulchriōrem. │ I am going to a much more
beautiful country.
Horātia multō prūdentior est quam cēterae. │
Horatia is much wiser than the others.
Examples of other adverbs which function in the same way
are:
[i] paulō: by a little
haec quaestiō paulō difficilior est │ this
problem is a little more difficult
[ii] tantō: by so much; tantō melior / melius │ all (so
much) the better
'tantō melior' inquit 'Massa, dōnō tibi
cālīgās'. (Petronius) │ “Better than ever, Massa,” he said, “I
will give you a pair of boots.”
[iii] dīmidiō: by
half; dimidio brevius │ shorter by half; half as short
Hibernia īnsula, dīmidiō minor ut exīstimātur
quam Britannia (Caesar) │ Ireland, smaller, as is reckoned, than
Britain, by one half
[iv] aliquantō: by a little (somewhat); considerably
Johannes Jonstonus’s 300 page work on birds published in
1657 has a superb set of illustrations. In the descriptions of the birds there
are many good examples of comparatives and the use of aliquantō:
Masculus aliquantō longior est, corpore, collō ac cristā ampliōrī. Rōstrum fēminae brevius est … [Johannes Jonstonus: Historiae naturalis de avibus (1657)] │ The male is somewhat longer, with a larger body, neck, and crest. The female's beak is shorter …
Latin tutorial: ablative of degree of difference
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