Latin's 100 Most Common Words

Learning these common words will give you a huge leg up when reading, writing, speaking, and listening to Latin, but remember that most of these words will have various forms due to their cases (Accusative, Genitive, Dative or Ablative) or function in a sentence or clause.

Number	Word	Meaning
1	Ego	I
2	Tu	You
3	Nos	We
4	Vos	You   (plural)
5	Is	He
6	Ea	She
7	Id	It,   that
8	Hic, haec, hoc	This   (masculine, feminine, neuter)
9	Ille ,illa, illud	That   (masculine, feminine, neuter)
10	Idem, eadem, idem	The same (masculine, feminine,   neuter)
11	Illi, illae	They
12	Suus	Theirs
13	Tuus, uester	Yours
14	Meus	My
15	Eius	His, hers, its
16	Ipse,a,um	(Him,   her, it)-self
17	in	In, into
18	a,ab	Away   from, by
19	de	About,   concerning
20	pro	Before,   in front of,
21	sine	Without
22	ante	Before
23	contra	Opposite, against, contrary to
24	per	Through,   across, throughout
25	post	After, behind, afterwards
26	trans	Over, across, beyond
27	ad	To, towards,
28	ex	From,  out of
29	cum	When, with
30	et, atque	And
31	nam	For, in fact
32	sed	But
33	deinde	Then,   next
34	quia	Because
35	si	If
36	tamen	However
37	dum	While
38	uel….uel	Either…..or
39	nemo	No one
40	nihil	Nothing
41	non	Not, not at all, by no means
42	ut	Where, how?, so that,
43	nunc	Now
44	ita	So, thus
45	Bonus	Good
46	Malus	Bad
47	Multus	Much
48	Parvus	Small
49	Magnus	Great
50	Solus	Alone, only, lonely, single
51	Totus	All, whole, entire
52	Ullus	Any, anyone
53	Unus	One
54	Alius	Another,   other, different
55	Alii…alii	Some……others
56	Aliqui, aliquid	Some,   someone, something
57	Quis, quid	Who? What? Which? Anyone, anything, someone, something
58	Sursum	Up
59	Deorsum	Down
60	Sinister	Left
61	Dexter	Right
62	Audire	To listen, to hear
63	Dare	To give , to grant
64	Esse	To be
65	Amare	To love
66	Dicere	To say
67	Habere	To have
68	Videre	To look, see
69	Facere	To make, do
70	Scribere	To write
71	Ire	To go
72	Posse	To be able
73	Vocare	To call
74	Venire	To Come
75	Capere	To take
76	Primus	First
77	Secundus	Second
78	Tertius	Third
79	Ultimus	Last
80	Homines	People
81	Urbs	City
82	Aer	Air
83	Ignis	Fire
84	Aqua	Water
85	Terra	Land
86	Amor	Love
87	Dies	Day
88	Familia	Family
89	Res	Things
90	Bellum	War
91	Coniunx	Spouse
92	Deus	God
93	Ludus	Game, sport
94	Nomen	Name
95	Sors	Destiny, Fate
96	Tempus	Times
97	Domus	Home
98	Cibus	Food
99	Ara	Altar
100	Mors	Death

A wonderful list of the 300 most common words in Latin with principal parts and gender may be found here!

                  

Is There is Any Advantages to Learning Latin

The following is a direct copy of my work at: Transparent Language Latin Blog

There has been much debate over the teaching and learning of Latin due to the language’s “supposed” uselessness. The fact that Latin has been categorized as a dead language ( which is defined as: “A language no longer in everyday use by a native population”) has often been a negative point in these debates. It has even lead to the British Museum hosting the academic debate earlier this summer: Does Latin have a Future?  So, the question must be posed “Is there any advantage to learning a dead language?”

Although, Latin is defined as a dead language due to the fact that is has no native population; it could be argued that the Vatican’s population and academics are Latin’s unconventional native population. Since Latin is spoken, taught, analyzed, and used almost everyday amongst these communities.  Regardless if Latin being spoken by 3 people or 3 million people, it is a language to be admired, esteemed, and prized.

 

So, is there a point to learning a dead language? The BBC did the following survey:
While this survey of Latin’s validity seems to be mixed for the modern day person; beyond a doubt Latin’s prevalence within our society can be seen in phrases such as:  ”per se,” “carpe diem,” “pro bono,” “et cetera,” and ”ergo.” These are all Latin terms that people use everyday without even considering that they are speaking a dead language. Even more astonishing is the fact that most currency has Latin on it which goes unnoticed!

 

USELESSNESS & UFEFULNESS OF LATIN:
One key argument against Latin’s validity and usefulness in modern day society is: “How can it better an individual within modern society?” Since, Latin is not taught in every school, it is not a requirement for 95% of  schools or occupations, and it is so obscure and removed from society; it is considered outdated and antediluvian. Donald Clark posted the following in his blog regarding Latin: 10 Reasons to NOT teach Latin.

                                             

 

Clark’s points seem to argue a negative perspective on aspects that have been proven otherwise on Latin’s resourcefulness: Helping you learn other languages, grammar, cognitive skills, et cetera (Latin for ”and the rest”). Moreover, Latin roots are used in everyday words and assist in learning new words with similar roots. Also, Latin has been proved to assist in increasing vocabulary as in this Iowa Study that saw a grade level improvement with middle school students who studied Latin for twenty minute daily sessions. And one more pro to learning Latin would have to be understanding Harry Potter spells:

 

How popular would you consider Facebook? I would argue that Facebook is one of the most used and popular social media sites. Facebook allows their users to use whatever language for their Facebook format…even Latin! So,do you have a Facebook account? Well, I dare you today to make a 24 hour commitment to change your language from English to Latin. Although it does not change everything from English to Latin, it is enough of a change that you notice differences, are able to understand some Latin, and increase your cognitive ability.  Go ahead try it and become a ”Dominus!” Also, give Latin Becomes a Living Language a read on Latin Lingua on Facebook.



“Uses Latin Language on Facebook…just like a Boss/ Master.”

 

There are plenty of articles that recommend Latin for various reasons: Why Study Latin? However, I firmly believe that if you have the drive and passion to learn any language that you should pursue it. This passion and drive can be seen amongst the National Junior Classical League students who met for their annual competition. These students clearly LOVE Latin.  There is something unique with learning Latin, since I have never seen student this excited for modern or “alive” languages. A video of  the NJCL students can be see here.
Learning a new language at any point in life is great for your brain! In conclusion, I recommend Transparent Language  which offers some fine resources and products to learning a language in addition to their resourceful language blogs.
On my last note, I have covered so far some basics on Latin in the modern world from media resources to it’s validity. So, if anyone would like a discussion on a particular topics please comment, but if not I look forward to writing on a wide array of topics translating texts and artifacts from Ancient Roman Society.