Latin的词源

英文词源

Latin (adj.)

Old English latin, from Latin Latinus "belonging to Latium," the region of Italy around Rome, possibly from PIE root *stela- "to spread, extend," with a sense of "flat country" (as opposed to the mountainous district of the Sabines), or from a prehistoric non-IE language. The Latin adjective also was used of the Roman language and people.

Centurion: What's this, then? "People called Romanes they go the house?"
Brian: It ... it says, "Romans, go home."
Centurion [thrashing him like a schoolboy]: No, it doesn't. 'Go home?' This is motion towards. Isn't it, boy?
Brian: Ah ... ah, dative, sir! Ahh! No, not dative! Not the dative, sir! No! Ah! Oh, the ... accusative! Domum, sir! Ah! Oooh! Ah!
Centurion [pulling him by the ear]: Except that domum takes the ...?
Brian: The locative, sir!
[Monty Python, "Life of Brian"]

Used as a designation for "people whose languages descend from Latin" (1856), hence Latin America (1862). The Latin Quarter (French Quartier latin) of Paris, on the south (left) bank of the Seine, was the site of university buildings in the Middle Ages, hence the place where Latin was spoken. The surname Latimer, Lattimore, etc. is from Vulgar Latin latimarus, from Latin latinarius "interpreter," literally "a speaker of Latin." "What Latin was to the learned, that their tongue was to laymen; hence latino was used for any dialect, even Arabic and the language of birds ...." [Donkin, "Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages," 1864].

Latin (n.)

"the language of the (ancient) Romans," Old English latin, from Latin latinium (see Latin (adj.)). The more common form in Old English was læden, from Vulgar Latin *ladinum, probably influenced by Old English leoden "language."

中文词源

Latin：拉丁人，拉丁语

来自拉丁语Latinus,即Latium，古罗马地名，词源同latitude,展开，宽度。即Latium人的语言，拉丁语。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：Latin 词源，Latin 含义。

Latin：拉丁语

拉丁语是罗马帝国的官方语言，随着罗马帝国的强盛而广泛传播，但最初仅仅局限于意大利的拉丁姆（Latium）平原。Latin正是源自这个地名，Latium本义为“平原、宽阔之地”，词根-lat-指“伸展”，如latitude（纬度，因为纬线是向两边伸展的），dilate（扩大）。