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Antiochus of Seleucia

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While you are at it:

 

My great, great, great, great, great, Great Grandmother is....

 

Instead of repeating 'great', is there a Latin term or phrase to indicate this?

 

I can't think of an example in a Latin text (I can in Greek, but that's no use). English is the only language I know in which you can repeat "great" and people will understand -- they don't understand if you try it in French! So. In Latin you have avia for grandmother, proavia for great-grandmother, and then what? My instinct is to say "avia meae aviae", the grandmother of my grandmother (or, in the other case, "avia mei avi", the grandmother of my grandfather). That is in fact the way it was done in ancient Greek.

 

Avia is the usual spelling of the word, but ava is also possible.

 

Seriously, this is the funniest use of Latin words I've ever seen. But yes, I think the repitition is best choice, avia aviae meae or proavia proaviae meae

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While you are at it:

 

My great, great, great, great, great, Great Grandmother is....

 

Instead of repeating 'great', is there a Latin term or phrase to indicate this?

 

G.O., if this is of any help, I've compiled a list of Latin terms used by genealogists to define relationships:

 

Avus Paternus = Paternal Grandfather

Proavus Paternus = Paternal Great-grandfather

Abavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-grandfather

Atavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-great-grandfather

Tritavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-great-great-grandfather

 

Avus Maternus = Maternal Grandfather

Proavus Maternus = Maternal Great-grandfather

Abavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-grandfather

Atavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-great-grandfather

Tritavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-great-great-grandfather

 

Avia Paternis = Paternal Grandmother

Proavia Paternis = Paternal Great-grandmother

Abavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-grandmother

Atavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-great-grandmother

Tritavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-great-great-grandmother

 

Avia Maternis = Maternal Grandmother

Proavia Maternis = Maternal Great-grandmother

Abavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-grandmother

Atavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-great-grandmother

Tritavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-great-great-grandmother

 

Sorry I couldn't find any specific terms for 5x great and greater. But you can find the Latin terms for other degrees of cognatio at this link for Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

 

-- Nephele

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While you are at it:

 

My great, great, great, great, great, Great Grandmother is....

 

Instead of repeating 'great', is there a Latin term or phrase to indicate this?

 

G.O., if this is of any help, I've compiled a list of Latin terms used by genealogists to define relationships:

 

Avus Paternus = Paternal Grandfather

Proavus Paternus = Paternal Great-grandfather

Abavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-grandfather

Atavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-great-grandfather

Tritavus Paternus = Paternal Great-great-great-great-grandfather

 

Avus Maternus = Maternal Grandfather

Proavus Maternus = Maternal Great-grandfather

Abavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-grandfather

Atavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-great-grandfather

Tritavus Maternus = Maternal Great-great-great-great-grandfather

 

Avia Paternis = Paternal Grandmother

Proavia Paternis = Paternal Great-grandmother

Abavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-grandmother

Atavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-great-grandmother

Tritavia Paternis = Paternal Great-great-great-great-grandmother

 

Avia Maternis = Maternal Grandmother

Proavia Maternis = Maternal Great-grandmother

Abavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-grandmother

Atavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-great-grandmother

Tritavia Maternis = Maternal Great-great-great-great-grandmother

 

Sorry I couldn't find any specific terms for 5x great and greater. But you can find the Latin terms for other degrees of cognatio at this link for Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

 

-- Nephele

 

Thanks very much, Nephele. I have to take back nearly all of what I said above -- I completely missed those Ab- At- and Trit- words. I notice the only surviving evidence for the Trit- forms seems to be in Justinian's law code (very late Latin, therefore) but that is probably only because people are not always talking about their great-great-great-great-grandfathers, so the words didn't happen to be wanted in earlier texts. They were there if wanted.

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Thanks all y'all for your hard work.

 

Haven't decided, yet, on which side of my family to put my great (x 1,000) Great Grandmother, Venus, [who rolled around in the hay with my great (x 1,000) Great Grandfather, Anchises], on.

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Thanks very much, Nephele. I have to take back nearly all of what I said above -- I completely missed those Ab- At- and Trit- words. I notice the only surviving evidence for the Trit- forms seems to be in Justinian's law code (very late Latin, therefore) but that is probably only because people are not always talking about their great-great-great-great-grandfathers, so the words didn't happen to be wanted in earlier texts. They were there if wanted.

 

You

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