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Latin Words #1

Can you translate these common Latin words into English?
All the answers are a single word
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: February 8, 2019
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First submittedSeptember 13, 2013
Times taken93,201
Average score66.7%
Rating4.86
4:00
Enter English translation here:
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 / 24 guessed
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Latin
English
Sol
Sun
Mille
Thousand
Rex
King
Mater
Mother
Contra
Against
Lumen
Light
Latin
English
Annus
Year
Stella
Star
Leo
Lion
Bellum
War
Emptor
Buyer
Post
After
Latin
English
Nihil
Nothing
Pax
Peace
Avis
Bird
Deus
God
Sanguis
Blood
Ovum
Egg
Latin
English
Lupus
Wolf
Luna
Moon
Amicus
Friend
Ursus
Bear
Corpus
Body
Caput
Head
+7
Level 56
Nov 5, 2013
100 % with 3:01 left. Can anyone tell me why they dropped Latin in schools?
+4
Level 39
Nov 5, 2013
Because schools are underfunded and so many of them have been forced to cut 'electives' that we took for granted in my day -- like music, art and languages. It's appalling. I feel sorry for the kids in school now.
+1
Level 40
Oct 30, 2015
My school teaches Latin, I got over 2/3
+18
Level 75
Apr 27, 2016
because there are lots of living languages that are far more valuable than the fetishization of all things Greco-Roman? Then again, his lack of Latin did make Dan Quayle uncomfortable during a trip to Venezuela, if I remember right.
+9
Level 65
Jan 15, 2019
@tshalla if you know latin all those "valauable languages" suddenly become a lot more clear and easier. Obviously not asian languages. I think it is more valuable to know latin and origins of words and languages. Than whoever was some military figurehead several centuries ago.
+9
Level 75
May 20, 2019
Only so many things can be taught in a school day/year/career. Priorities.
+2
Level 65
May 20, 2019
Exactly i agree there, priorities. But so many valuable languages? Nah, usefull, yes some might be in some cases.
+5
Level 70
Nov 7, 2021
Knowing one romance language is already great preparation for learning another. If learning Latin has an edge for aspiring polyglots -- and I'm not sure it does -- it's only slight, but even still that's far outweighed by the practicality of knowing a language millions of people actually speak today. I wouldn't call learning Latin a waste of time, but there are certainly better ways to spend it.
+9
Level 90
Nov 5, 2013
Because it's a dead language. The same reason they don't teach Ancient Greek or Sanscrit in schools.
+10
Level 42
May 21, 2015
But it's a huge help in learning and understanding other Romance languages like French, Italian, Spanish...
+5
Level 32
Apr 28, 2016
I studied both of those at school...
+11
Level 37
Oct 4, 2016
That is a ridiculous statement.

How can it be a dead language when the Romance and Germanic languages (yes, including English) have Latin roots. I passed my

English Regent exam by concentrating on those words with Latin roots.

+6
Level 77
Feb 24, 2023
Of course it's a dead language. Just to clarify, a "living language" is one that is regularly spoken by some group of people and evolves as a result. Dead languages are ones that have no primary speakers, and it will no longer evolve.
+4
Level 51
Apr 11, 2017
I agree with divantilya - definitely lives on in other languages
+4
Level 59
Aug 7, 2017
It's very helpful to have studied Latin when going into law or medicine!
+1
Level 73
Feb 21, 2018
My favorite Latin word:

appropinquabamusne? ("were we not approaching?"

When I was in high school, I took Latin for three years and classical Greek for one year. Greek was a lot more fun, actually.

While Latin is obscure it helps obliquely with history, vocabulary, etymology, and has some things in common with Romance languages.

That said, was the one year of Spanish I took in college way more practically useful? You better believe it.

+3
Level 65
Dec 7, 2018
@divantalya it is officialy a dead language... what is ridiculous about stating it is...

There are no people/ethnic group that uses it as their everyday language.

That doesnt mean it is forgotten and is never used. It lives on in science (and it used to be the language mainly used in churches) and it is extremely usefull in learning other (romance) languages.

Dead officialy, but alive in our hearts... ow latin... we haven't forgotten about you! You still mean a lot to us...

+10
Level 67
May 20, 2019
I never understood the argument that we should learn Latin because it helps us learn other Romance languages. Instead of spending 100 hours learning Latin so you can then learn Spanish, just spend the first 100 hours learning Spanish, which people actually speak in many places. Then, once you know Spanish, you can more easily learn French, Portuguese, or Italian. There is absolutely no need to bring Latin into this equation. I know that it's the forerunner of the others, but that also means that the others follow similar rules, so if you just start with Spanish grammar, you'll have a good sense of French grammar. Why bring Latin into it at all?
+1
Level 70
Apr 9, 2021
i can speak french and i can tell you that there are very few cognates between french and spanish, but there are loads and loads of cognates from latin to french, italian and spanish. eg : in latin the word for you (sing) is tu, in french, spanish and italian it is the same (with an accent in spanish). trust me, latin is incredibly useful for learning romance languages
+1
Level 43
May 6, 2021
they actually do teach ancient greek in greek/cypriot public schools (just a fun fact)
+2
Level 24
Jul 19, 2021
Sanskrit is not a dead language, and there are vast religious texts still in use today, as well as a lot of untranslated material, in Sanskrit
+3
Level 77
Feb 24, 2023
Sanskrit is dead in that it is not an evolving language, as it is not anyone's first language. As a result, tremendous effort is put towards meticulously preserving pronunciations, words, or grammatical rules of the ancient language. A language is considered living if it is continuing to evolve as people use it.
+1
Level 35
Apr 14, 2023
I studied Latin in my American high school and my Dutch husband studied Ancient Greek in middle school. Considering that over 60% of English vocabulary has Latin or Greek roots, Latin and Greek words are used extensively in science and academia, about a seventh of the world's population speak a language derived from Latin, and a third of the world's population adhere to a religion whose sacred texts were originally written in Greek… it totally makes sense to learn, at least to a summary extent, these "dead" languages.
+2
Level 84
Nov 5, 2013
We learned Latin and Greek etymologies and roots in school. It wasn't the same as learning the full language but it was very helpful to understanding English better.
+2
Level 75
Apr 27, 2016
Same here, although all those years of Pig-Latin did me no good at all. :)
+1
Level 51
Nov 5, 2013
I am in latin at a public high school right now so.....
+2
Level 45
Apr 18, 2014
Latin is going strong in my former high school (public too)!
+1
Level 65
Dec 7, 2018
Never had latin in school, but managed to get all but one (emptor) with 3:00 to spare.

Gave up right after that, cause was pretty sure I wasnt gonna get it, and I was right, after seeing the answer it still didn't ring any bells

+1
Level 56
Jul 9, 2021
"Caveat Emptor" Let the buyer beware.
+3
Level 55
Jan 9, 2019
They still have 'special' schools in The Netherlands that teach ancient Greek and Latin but it's the highest level so not everybody can learn it. Having had Latin and ancient Greek does indeed help a lot with decoding Latin languages like Spanish and Italian.
+1
Level 65
May 20, 2019
They do, and i wish i had chosen it. Did atheneum but could ve done gymnasium (and to clarify to others, it is not a special school, just a different route/set of classes.). I still cant remember why not. I really should ask...

(I think i was talked out of it. And at age 12 you probably think others know what they are talking about)

+1
Level 28
May 27, 2020
They haven't. My school still teaches it, but they were considering just teaching us French, since only one teacher knew latin, and they didn't want to pay extra. There are a few schools in my area who still teach latin
+1
Level 57
Jul 11, 2021
I had the same time and score! I never took Latin. Sang some. But I speak Spanish and it gave me enough clues.
+1
Level 71
Apr 14, 2023
I did Latin 'O' level more than 40 years ago - I deeply resented having to take Latin for 5 years and couldn't see the point. With the benefit of hindsight, it makes many other languages (those with shared roots) a tad easier to learn, helps with maths and other sciences, and often makes new or unfamiliar words easier to decode.

Oh, and it got me 100% on this quiz!! :-)

+1
Level 35
Sep 17, 2023
I live in China and my school doesn't hire teachers to teach Latin...
+2
Level 45
Nov 5, 2013
Easy; got every word on my first guess, and finished with 3:32 left. Make a sequel!
+2
Level ∞
Oct 26, 2015
How about 2?

http://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/latin-words-2

http://www.jetpunk.com/quizzes/latin-words-3

+1
Level 49
Nov 7, 2013
Two years of Latin actually pays off... In this little obscure corner of the internets.
+2
Level 66
Jan 6, 2014
got a lot of these by knowing English and French . learning both helps with etymology as does German
+2
Level 65
Dec 7, 2018
Vice versa too
+1
Level 8
Mar 31, 2014
79% Das goot.
+2
Level 41
May 13, 2014
Quizmaster, could you please change "Nihilum" to "nihil"? Gratias (:
+1
Level 25
May 26, 2014
I second that!
+1
Level ∞
Oct 26, 2015
Okay
+2
Level 21
Nov 1, 2014
That becomes difficult if you have to translate it twice :D From Latin into -in my case- German, into English. Got 19/24 anyway :D That's ok, I think
+19
Level 82
Feb 24, 2015
Could you accept "tow truck and backwards driving expert" for "Mater?"
+2
Level 55
Apr 27, 2016
It's like TUHmater, 'cept without the 'tuh'.
+1
Level 22
Apr 27, 2016
Who else did this quiz thinking it was spanish?? xD
+1
Level 56
Apr 27, 2016
100% with 3:18 to go. Three years of Latin is still paying off. Please put Latin back in schools!
+4
Level 65
Apr 27, 2016
Knowing Spanish really comes in handy in these types of quizzes.
+1
Level 10
Apr 27, 2016
25%... I'm not good at Latin
+1
Level 46
Aug 12, 2016
Woohoo, 100% with 3:08 left.
+1
Level 22
Aug 27, 2016
19/24. I'm mad I didn't get avis (duh), contra and sanguis. I was trying every preposition I could think of for contra and I thought sanguis might have something to do with bodily fluids but I didn't think of the most obvious one.
+1
Level 43
Dec 23, 2016
Keep the Latin quizzes comin' :) These would be especially great for high school students prepping for SATs and such. These quizzes provide so much valuable information for American English speakers in particular.
+2
Level 65
May 20, 2019
I wonder why you particularly mention american english, what is the difference, in this particular case, with british english?
+3
Level 35
Apr 9, 2017
Easy for me, I'm italian ù.ù
+2
Level 51
Apr 11, 2017
3.05 left, first go for me. Good to see that 3 months of Latin I did in 1980 at high school still comes in handy!
+1
Level 80
Jul 26, 2017
Obviously if you know them it's an easy quiz; if you don't then guesswork will probably only get you part of the way. Suggest reducing the time - like others I had more than 3 minutes left.
+2
Level 59
Sep 10, 2017
How about customer or client for Emptor?
+1
Level 66
Nov 21, 2017
Well Emptor comes from the Latin Phrase "Caveat Emptor" meaning let the buyer beware, so it wouldn't quite make sense for it to be anything else.
+2
Level 83
Jan 20, 2018
...what?
+6
Level 65
Dec 7, 2018
A word coming from a phrase... well that's new
+1
Level 75
Apr 29, 2020
lol
+2
Level 53
Nov 21, 2017
As a Brazilian (Portuguese language), I feel embarassed of forgetting Lupus (the constelattion, dammit), Mater and Bellum. Emptor I had no ideia what it was, never heard before...
+3
Level 48
Feb 21, 2018
I would suggest that Contra also accepts opposition/opposite or resistance. We use it the same way in the Greek language for -enanti
+1
Level 44
Mar 20, 2018
just missed emptor but almost 100%
+1
Level 28
Dec 12, 2018
Actually, "post" can also mean "behind" as well as "after". Maybe consider changing it? Just wanted to let you know as someone studying Latin.
+1
Level 65
Jan 15, 2019
All were just as simple as english for me ( never had any latin at school btw) but never heard of emptor/buyer. Maybe that word is used in only english phrases? All the others I know from scientific stuff or commonly used words.
+2
Level 79
Feb 22, 2019
Could 'opposite' be accepted for 'contra'?
+1
Level 49
May 20, 2019
Agreed. I was confused when opposite was not accepted.
+2
Level 74
Apr 14, 2019
as latin student this is cheep points, still nice quiz
+10
Level 48
May 20, 2019
For "caput", did anybody else first try "broken"? :)
+1
Level 84
May 20, 2019
Yep, and beer for stella :)
+1
Level 67
May 20, 2019
Never had Latin, scored 88%. I knew i learned some words in culture and a vague few through studying history (though not focussing on the Roman eara). I am seriously surprised by my score.
+1
Level 63
May 20, 2019
I got most of these right because I am familiar with Italian and Spanish (simply from learning songs in these languages), and then I worked backwards from there. Plus, I feel as though some of these should be general knowledge (i.e. sol is the basis for solar).
+1
Level 33
May 20, 2019
21 out of 24, not bad. Being a native speaker of Portuguese myself helped a lot and in College I had to take three semesters of Latin...Paid off only now. lol
+1
Level 57
May 20, 2019
Over 50 years ago, a pass in Latin at "O" level was pretty much a requirement to get into a British university. Somehow, I did it, despite receiving "Disastrous" on a couple of report cards from dear Molly Barnes. Some of it stuck - missed only Emptor & Ursus.
+1
Level 60
May 20, 2019
I am learning Spanish at the moment which is the only reason I managed to get any of the 16 I got. Finally I have learnt the real benefit of learning Spanish...
+1
Level 59
May 20, 2019
46 years after my last high school Latin class and I got 100%!
+1
Level 61
May 25, 2019
Man, I hate it when I'm getting 100% right up until the last question! That's when my caput went kaput.
+1
Level 43
Nov 30, 2019
nice
+1
Level 36
Jun 8, 2020
Never studied Latin directly but I am studying French since nearly 6 years. Got all except emptor and avis!
+3
Level 41
Nov 3, 2020
Emptor did my caput in...
+2
Level 44
Jan 7, 2021
easy as pie :) nighty night

Don't let the bed bugs bite

good will to all men

+1
Level 64
Apr 9, 2021
God, I tried "buy", but did't insist !!

Nice quiz, thanks!

+2
Level 36
May 4, 2021
I got 21/24 correct, the similarities in Spanish and English really help with these quizzes.
+1
Level 67
Jun 15, 2021
21, missed mater, emptor, caput
+2
Level 71
Jul 9, 2021
"Emptor" is the only one I learned here.

B.t.w., I just can't get ovet the fact thst you still use "per capita" in English as if it was actual Latin

+1
Level 84
Jul 9, 2021
Carpe donuts!
+1
Level 76
Jul 9, 2021
Well, those 2 years of Latin in high school finally paid off.
+1
Level 56
Jul 9, 2021
Yep-- I took Latin in high school, and in college. (Also Russian, which has some surprising similarities to Latin.)
+2
Level 60
Jul 10, 2021
Can you accept 'mom' for 'mother'?
+3
Level 54
Nov 7, 2021
Me trying to refrain myself from making an among us joke for the latin word bear
+1
Level 65
Mar 28, 2022
This bear is lurking around the honey pot... suspicious
+1
Level 19
Nov 9, 2021
Corpus also means collection, sum, corporation etc. I was trying these but it wasn't accepting. Probably we can include these also?
+2
Level 56
May 12, 2022
Annus lol
+1
Level 35
May 31, 2022
never did a class on latin and i get all, i think being spanish helped a little
+2
Level 46
Dec 13, 2022
Of course I only knew the space-related ones 😂
+1
Level 20
Apr 4, 2023
Haha fr
+1
Level 67
Feb 24, 2023
Just missed Emptor this time, closest I could think of was "seller" and it was the opposite
+1
Level 20
Apr 14, 2023
I am Romanian and I understood Most of it, it's crazy to think how much Latin influenced all the other languages
+1
Level 4
Apr 14, 2023
ja jestem polakiem i nie wiedziałem że niedźwiedź po łacińsku brzmi jak nazwa popularnego traktora
+1
Level 34
Dec 9, 2023
later should be accepted as a type-in to 'post'