The aim of the Comenius texts is to allow you to talk in Latin about things around you. As always, speaking the language reinforces vocabulary by putting it into context, but specifically contexts that apply to our world. We will work through Comenius’ 17th century description of a bedroom and compare the vocabulary to its interpretation both in the ancient world and how it is specifically applied in Neo-Latin with links to the Neo-Latin Lexicon.
The Stove with the bedroom | Hypocaustum cum dormītōriō.
The stove, | Hypocaustum, (1)
is beautified | ornātur
with an arched roof, | laqueārī, (2)
and wainscoted walls | & tabulātīs parietibus (3).
It is enlightened | Īllūminātur
with windows | fenestrīs (4).
It is heated | Calefit
with an oven | fornāce (5).
Its utensils are | Eius ūtēnsilia sunt
benches, | scamna (6)
stools, | sellae (7)
tables, | mēnsae (8)
with tressels, | cum fulcrīs (9)
footstools, | ac scabellīs (10)
and cushions | & culcitrīs (11).
There are also tapestries | Appenduntur etiam
hanged | tapetēs (12).
For soft lodging | Prō levī cubātū,
in a sleeping-room, | in dormitōriō (13)
there is a bed, | est lectus (cubīle) (14)
spread on a bed-stead, | strātus in spondā (15)
upon a straw-pad, | super strāmentum (16)
with sheets, | cum lodicibus (17)
and cover-lids (coverlets) | & strāgulīs (18).
The bolster, | Cervīcāl (19)
is under one’s head | est sub capite.
The bed is covered | Lectus tegitur
with a canopy | canopeō (20).
A chamber-pot, | Matula (21)
is for making water in | est vesicae levandae.
[i]
dormītōrium, -ī [2/n]: sleeping room; dormitory
laquear, -āris [3/n]: panelled ceiling, but can also refer (as
here) to an arched / vaulted ceiling
[ii]
supellex, supellectilis [3/f]: domestic utensils; furniture
ūtēnsilia, -ium [3/n/pl]: things for use e.g. utensils,
supplies, equipment
[iii]
fornāx, -cis [3/f]: furnace; oven; kiln
hypocaustum, -ī [2/n]: “stove”, referring to a heated room; see
“topic; architecture [10]; Comenius (1658) LXXII; partēs domūs (1)” [LINK]
[iv]
mēnsa, -ae [1/f]: table
scabellum, -ī [2/n]: footstool
scamnum, -ī [2/n]: bench; footstool; the noun can refer to a
long bench e.g. a pew in a church
sella, -ae [1/f]: seat; chair
matula, -ae [1/f]: [i] a vessel for holding liquids; [ii]
chamber pot
Note: the word was also a term of abuse, meaning “simpleton”
or “idiot”
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Thesaurus:homo_stultus#Latin
[v]
cubīle, -is [2/n]: bed
lectus, -ī [2/m]: bed
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/bed/
sponda, -ae [1/f]: bed-stead
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/bed__bedstead/
[vi]
strāmentum, -ī [2/n]: in general, the word refers to anything
that is spread on the ground, especially straw, but could also apply to bedding
hence a straw mattress which the translator gives as “straw-pad”
culcita, or culcitra, -ae
[1/f]:
pillow, cushion; mattress, bedding,
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/mattress/
[vii]
cervīcal(e), -ālis [3/n]: pillow, cushion, bolster < cervīx,
-cis [3/f]: neck; nape of the neck
pulvīnus, -ī [2/m]: pillow, cushion, bolster < pulvis, pulveris
[3/n]: dust; powder i.e. referring to the filling of the pillow
https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/pillow/
[viii]
linteum, -ī [2/n]: bed sheet
lōdīx, -cis [3/f]: sheet;
blanket; rug (as a bed covering)
strāgulum, -ī [2/n]: bedspread
all listed at: https://neolatinlexicon.org/latin/bedcover__sheet/
[ix]
cōnōpēum, -ī [2/n]: [i] mosquito net; [ii] canopy
tapēte, -is [3/n]: cloth (decorative), used as a carpet, or (as in the text) for wall hangings; in another section of Comenius’ work, he uses the noun to refer to the cover for a banqueting table.
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