FLavius Valerius Constantinus Posted January 1, 2007 Report Share Posted January 1, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 (edited) Thanks, A.D. & FVC, I guess that it is up to my genius to invent a word that covers all bases. Edited January 2, 2007 by Gaius Octavius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted January 2, 2007 Report Share Posted January 2, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Dalby Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 :wub: Apocryphal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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