This section of the text uses a number of technical terms and is a particularly good example of Comenius’ commitment not only to teaching Latin words to his 17th century pupils, but also educating them about the world around them, in this case how structures were built.
Part [6]
On the top is the roof, covered with tiles or shingles, which lie upon laths*, and these upon rafters.
In summō est tectum, contectum imbricibus (tegulīs)
vel scāndulīs, quæ incumbunt tigillīs, hāc tignīs.
The eaves adhere to the roof.
Tectō adhæret stillicidium.
[i] tectum, -ī [2/n]: roof, ceiling; can also refer
figuratively to a house or dwelling
[ii]
tignum, -ī [2/n]: beam; rafter
tigillum,
-ī [2/n]: *small piece of wood or small beam / joist
[iii]
scāndula, -ae [1/f]: roof shingle; this refers to tiles that
overlap, the process still used today
imbrex, imbricis [3 m/f] < imber, imbris [3/m]: rain; hollow
tile, gutter tile used to lead rain off a roof
tēgula, -ae
[1/f]: large and heavy flat roof tile used in combination with the imbrex
meās cōnfrēgistī imbricēs et tēgulās (Plautus)
you have been breaking my gutters and my tiles
images: (1) sets of roof tiles, each consisting of two
joined tēgulae and one imbrex, overlapping them to cover the gap;
(2) roof tiles from Pompeii
[iv] stillicidium, -ī [2/n]: [i] the original meaning of the word refers to liquid falling drop by drop, especially rainwater; [ii] it acquires a later meaning, used in the text, to refer to part of a roof which leads water away from the house structure e.g. eaves, gutter
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