21.03.26: Describing objects [2]: metals (ii)

Bibēbant vīnum, et laudābant deōs suōs aureōs et argenteōs, aereōs, ferreōs, ligneōsque et lapideōs. (Vulgate) │ They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

As in English, Latin can have different ways in which to describe the material from which an object is made. We will take aurum (gold) to show these:

[i] noun

aurum, -ī [2/n]: gold (the precious metal)

aurum mundum: pure gold

mundus, -a, -um: pure

[ii] ē / ex (+ ablative) + noun

• statua ex aurō: a statue (made) of gold

dē + ablative may also be used in this sense although ē / ex is more common and will be the one listed in examples:

• factum ¦ dē cautibus antrum: a cave formed ¦  from rocks
• templum dē marmore: a temple made of marble

08.03.24: the ablative of source / material

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/080324-ablative-of-source-material.html

21.05.25: Level 3; summary of the uses of the ablative case [5]: the ablative of source / material

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/02/210525-level-3-summary-of-of-uses-of_25.html

[iii] adjective; -eus, suffix used to from adjectives from nouns

aurum (noun) + -eus > aureus, -a, -um: golden; (made of) gold

• patera aurea: a golden goblet

• dextrum nūdāvit lacertum ¦ armillā aureā ¦ (2) cultum (Petronius) │ he bared his right arm ¦ (2) adorned ¦ (1) with a gold bracelet

Further examples are listed in the separate entries e.g.

• argentum (silver) + -eus > argenteus, -a, -um: (made of) silver
• ferrum (iron) + -eus > ferreus, -a, -um: (made of) iron
• lignum (w00d) + eus > ligneus, -a, -um: (made of) wood

08.03.24: adjectives of material

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/080324-adjectives-of-material.html

[iv] aurum (noun) + -ātus, -a, -um; the use of this suffix indicates that the object (or person) has the feature of the noun rather than it being made from the raw material:

aurātus, -a, -um: gilded; gold-coloured

Examples:

• barba, -ae [1/f]: bear > barbātus, -a, -um: bearded
• cēra, -ae [1/f]: wax; cērō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: cover with wax > cērātus, -a, -um: covered with wax
• crista, -ae [1/f]: crest (of a helmet) > cristātus, -a, -um: plumed; galea cristāta: a plumed helmet / a helmet with a plume
• toga, -ae [1/f]: toga > togātus, -a, -um: wearing / dressed in a toga
• penna, -ae [1/f] / pinna, ae [1/f]: wing; feather > pennātus, -a, -um / pinnātus, -a, -um: winged / having wings

Veterēs scrībēbant in tabellīs cērātīs (Comenius) │ The Ancients writ in tables (tablets) done over with wax

Aethiopia generat multaque alia mōnstrīs similia, pinnātōs equōs et cornibus armātōs, quōs pēgasōs vocant, (Pliny the Elder) │ Ethiopia produces many other creatures similar to monsters, winged horses armed with horns, which they call Pegasi

The following quotation, from the Satyricon by Petronius, depicts the ostentatious Trimalchio; the impression the latter tries to create is superficial, hence the description of the ring:

Habēbat etiam in minimō digitō sinistrae manūs ānulum grandem subaurātum (Petronius) │On the little finger of his left hand he had an enormous gilt / somewhat gilded ring (sub- indicates that it was ‘slightly’ gilded) i.e. “All that glisters is not gold”

[v] fiō, fierī, factus sum [3-iō/deponent]: become; be made

focus on the participle: factus, -a, -um i.e. (having been) made

• fibula ex aurō facta: a brooch / clasp made of gold