l at i n i t i u m .

co m
l at i n i t i u m . c o m

Improve your
Latin

Table of Contents

Learn Latin:
How to Improve your Latin in 10 minutes a day.............2

How to learn Latin from your Things................................9

A little Latin every day:

How to learn Latin with short texts and audio...... 15

A guide to dictionaries of Latin synonyms:

How to tell the difference.................................................... 20

A few words before you close this book......................... 32

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Learn Latin:
How to Improve your Latin
in 10 minutes a day

Written by Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

Master a Latin text, 10 minutes at a

time.
T he last couple of years people have frequently asked me how I
learned to speak Latin and what they could do to improve their
own Latin even if they had extremely little free time. I believe everyo-
ne can teach themselves to speak Latin and read Latin fluently. It’s just
a question of motivation, method and material.
There are many ways we can build our skill in a language. Today I

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will treat one I’ve enjoyed a lot of success with.

First off, the key ingredient to gaining fluency in Latin is consis-
tency and habit. Getting a good daily reading (or listening) habit is
essential. Now, this is sometimes extremely difficult with jobs, family
life, hobbies and, well, life getting in the way. But there is hope: here’s
a quick-fix or, more accurately, a “slow-fix”.
So today I thought I’d present a technique I use when I don’t have
the time to read an hour a day.
This technique is not only about reading but about really maste-
ring a piece of text and making it your own. When I’ve done this, I’ve
found I know the expressions and structures almost off by heart. Then
when speaking Latin, I have a ready source to draw from. Also, when
reading a different text, it’s easier to see similarities and differences in
expressions if you know a couple of texts really well.
Lastly, being really familiar with a number of texts helps enor-
mously with building confidence, which is an integral part of perseve-
ring on the road to fluency. Let’s get into it.
I discuss this technique and more in this talk (in Latin) I gave in
Florence 2016 (Subtitles in Latin are available!).

1. Day I:
Material: an interesting and (preferably)
level-appropriate text.

F irst off we need a text. An interesting text that we can also un-
derstand, more or less. Pick one. It doesn’t have to be perfect. For
some suggestions look through our growing selection of short recor-
dings of Latin texts.
Pick a text and look through it without reading it.
Just familiarize yourself with it.
Read a few words here and there. It’s a first date, you’re just getting
acquainted. Put it down and let it rest until tomorrow.

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2. Day II:
Set a timer & read A short passage

A new day and a new step to take.

Pull out the old hourglass (or use a less fun timer). Set it to
ten minutes. Start reading.
How much you read during your 10 minutes is not important, but
to be able to perform the next steps, keep it to a few pages tops. Read
at a pace at which you can understand and visualize the things you
read. Note where you stopped.

Extra credit:
Visualizing

V isualizing is a great way to see whether you really understand a

text. If you can picture it in you mind, you most likely under-
stand it.
Furthermore, it makes understanding more lengthy sentences
much easier. For instance take a sentence like this from good ol’ Cae-
sar:

”Prima luce productis omnibus copiis duplici acie

instituta, auxiliis in mediam aciem coniectis, quid
hostes consilii caperent expectabat.”
When reading a sentence, try picturing each part before proceeding.
For example, after reading

”prima luce productis omnibus copiis duplici acie

instituta”

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try to see a field with the sun just rising where the troops have been led
out and placed into a double battle line. Then read on

”auxiliis in mediam aciem coniectis”

and visualize the auxiliary troops in the middle. It doesn’t matter if
you know what this actually looks like, just picture something plau-
sible. Try to see the soldiers standing in these lines. Continue with:

”quid hostes consilii caperent expectabat”

Picture the general on his horse looking around and waiting to see
what the enemy will do.
This may seem a very lengthy exercise, but describing a picture re-
quires, well, a thousand words. In reality, picturing something is a lot
quicker.
Try it.
Picture an elephant reading a book. Then write down that descrip-
tion. Takes a while, right?

Now, many may say that they are not visual, but I think most pe-
ople are.

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Think of any book you’ve read and then seen a cinematic adapta-
tion; maybe you’ve gone ”that’s not what X is supposed to be like, look
like etc.”; the movie’s images conflict with your own visual representa-
tion of the text.

3. Day III:
Re-Read & Record & Read

O n day three you set your timer and re-read the same text that you
read on the previous day. This will be a lot easier, and probably
quicker, than the first time.
Now comes the crucial part. In the time you have left do this: Pull
out your phone or any device with a microphone. Set it to record and
start reading the passage that you’ve by now read two times. Read
slowly into the microphone.
When you record, it doesn’t have to be perfect, not even all that
good, because between listening to a less than perfect reading of a La-
tin text and not listening at all, the choice is easy.
Record until your timer goes off. Save the file. Done for today.
The next day you continue reading. Then on the day after you re-
cord that text, and continue in the same fashion.

No time to record?

S ometimes there’s just not enough time or strength to record it. It

happens to all of us. Below are a couple of suggestions from our
audio section pick whatever piques your interest and start from step 3.
• #30 – Cicero’s quest for the tomb of Archimedes | Latin texts 6
• #32 – Sallust on the death of Catiline | Latin texts 8
• #38 – The crime and fate of Daedalus | Latin texts 13
• #39 – Aurelius Commodus | Latin texts 14

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• #40 – The story about the wood-cutter and the golden axe | La-
tin texts 15
You can find more audio on and hours of video in Latin on our
Patreon page. Become a Latinitium supporter, and get access to tons
of material, and new videos all the time.

4. Day IV:
From the top

I f you finished recording the passage on the previous day, start from
step 1 and pick a new passage; otherwise, finish recording the pre-
vious one.

Listening

S o now we have some text recorded, what now?

Apart from the use we get from re-reading, we get a recording
to listen to when we are going about our day. Now we have to find
time to listen to it and this can be tricky but I’ll give you some examp-
les of when I’ve listened to Latin:

• While brushing my teeth

• While having breakfast (maybe less socially acceptable if some-
one else is present, but hey…)
• While commuting to work
• While walking
• At the gym
• While doing the dishes
• At the grocery store (this often leads to me walking around for-
getting what I was supposed to buy.)

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T hese little bits of time amount to a lot of listening if we do it eve-

ryday. For example, I would estimate I spend around 10 minutes
standing in line during a regular work day (coffee shop, public trans-
port, grocery store).
Now, in a month that would make 10 × 20 = 200 minutes = 3h
20min. That’s not bad.

Extra credit:
go fast

W hen we’ve accumulated some recordings and have listened to

them several times, we will know the content pretty well. Now
to go through it faster, if your device allows it; you can listen to it at
different speeds such as, 1.3X, 1.5X and even, for the brave ones, 2X
the speed. Modern software tend to keep the pitch more or less intact
so that you don’t sound like a chipmunk.

Recap of the steps:

• Day 1: Pick an interesting text that you can understand. Fami-

liarize yourself with it: Read a few words here and there.
• Day 2: Set a timer. Read.
• Day 3: Re-read the same passage(s). Record as much as you can
in the remaining time.
• Day 4: Read a new passage or possibly finish recording the pre-
vious one.
• Repeat.

Give it a try. I always get a lot out of this method. Let me know how it
goes. Start today by picking a text.

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How to learn Latin from

your Things

Written by Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

T he picture above is a picture of our spices. In Sweden, the bottles

don’t come with Latin names. So whence these sapient spices?
Read on.
In his De ratione studii, the grand humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam
gave great advice on how to learn expressions, sayings, and proverbs.
In this article, I’ll show you how to adapt his easy technique to learn
the Latin vocabulary of everyday things.

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Why everyday words?

K nowing the names of everything around you, creates confidence,

a feeling that you’ve mastered a domain. To devilish self-doubt,
you’ll reply, ”I may not know this word [insert word], but I do know
the names of all the furniture in my home”.
This sounds strange but knowing the words for everything around
you is tangible evidence of progress, which otherwise is so elusive and
perfidious: We don’t see the plant grow and so think it doesn’t.

How to learn the everyday-items

S o we will look to that Dutch humanist to guide our step. The tech-
nique comes from his fascinating De ratione studii (1512), where
he provides practical tips while setting out his views on learning Latin.
He suggests dressing the walls and everyday objects with proverbs,
expressions, sayings, even carving them into rings and drinking cups
so that you’re surrounded by them and learn them while doing other
things.
This brings us back to the sapient spices I spoke of in the begin-
ning:
Recently, with my help, my girlfriend used this method to learn
the names of the spices we use most often.
This has had a tremendous effect. After just a few weeks, she now
knows them all, just from seeing them every day when we cook. No
studying.

O nce you’ve put up the pieces of paper, you’ll see the Latin words
constantly: going for coffee in the kitchen, taking out the trash,
you’ll see them and quickly forge a lasting link between them and the
object to which they refer cutting out, so to speak, the middleman.
But learning this vocabulary takes time which many rarely have.
So what can we do? Learn it without studying hard?

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Pie in the sky?

Sounds tasty, but no.
You may conclude that learning the names of everyday things is a
waste of time for Latinists. I disagree.
To paraphrase Erasmus, we must master the vocabulary of the
basic domains (place names, animals, clothes, furniture etc.) because
from them authors from every age have drawn comparisons and me-
taphors. They are the building blocks.
But there is another reason as well.
So, how is it done?

Step 1: Selection of items

F irst off, you need to select the items whose names you want to
learn.
It’s a question of taste, time, and level. Some start with basic voca-
bulary, eg.
• door
• table
• window
• oven

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Others want to cover everything in a particular room, e.g.

• door handle
• lamp wick
• shelf
• curtain

Choose a strategy and start. As the ink on your list dries, it’s time
to prepare for the hunt, that noble quest for the right Latin word.

Step 2: Finding the Latin

T here are many places to go to find the right Latin word: Of the
primary resources, time-trusted dictionaries are the best.

Dictionaries

L et’s first look at the vernacular–dictionaries. They are legion but I

will name only the most exhaustive and well known:
• English: Smith, W., Hall, T. D, Smith’s English-Latin Dictiona-
ry (Reprint Edition) (Searchable digital edition is available here)
• French: Goelzer, François, Nouveau dictionnaire français-latin
(Paris, 1907).
• German: Georges

T o these volumes of the 19th century, I will add the eminent Lex-
icon Latinum, written by David Morgan, and now continued by
Patrick Owens. It will not only supply many words that you would
look for in vain elsewhere but also discuss differences in meaning.

Illustrated works

A nother resource is the Orbis Pictus Latinus by Herman Koller.

It contains ca. 1700 words from the classical and early modern

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period, many with illustrations.

In the same vein, but geared towards children and novice learners
– though many a professor would struggle with naming them all – is
First 1000 words Latin, thematically organised pictures of everyday
things with their Latin names. It has been corrected by Patrick Owens.

Online groups

O ther great resources are the forums and facebook groups online.
Do this exercise together with some friends, share the bur-
den of looking up words and talk about which one would be the best
fit.
For this, I recommend the Facebook groups dedicated to Latin.
These are some of them:
• Teaching Latin for Acquisition,
• Latin teacher idea exchange,
• Learning Latin
The people in them are kind and helpful.
Now that the elusive words are in your net, what’s next?

Step 3: Material and Placement

N ext, you need to get some paper, preferably thick and brightly
colored to stand out a bit.
Avoid post-its, since they don’t stick well to softer surfaces and
tend to drop to their doom after a short while.
Write large enough to see the words from across the room, or whe-
rever you usually are in that particular room.
If you spend a lot of time on a chair or more horizontally, consider
placing the slips so you can see them from that position.
And when you know them all…

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For Extra Credits

L et us now return to the Dutch humanist’s sage advice. But with a

twist.
When windows have given way to fenestrae, and tables to men-
sae, when your palette no longer remembers basil, but savors ocimum,
then take out a new piece of paper.
Search for familiar words, e.g. mensa in a Latin dictionary or in
a corpus (e.g. PHI) and write out a phrase or proverb containing
the word, for instance, secunda mensa (”dessert”) or mensae tempus
(”meal time”).
Then do this with any expression, or proverb you come across.
These things might look small but they will amount to much.

“Tametsi singula per se pusilla uidentur, tamen in

unum collata acervum doctrinae thesaurum lucro
augent.”
— Erasmus, Ratio studii

Don’t give up

O ne last word on finding the right Latin word. It may seem easy,
nothing more than opening a dictionary.
But this is not always so.
Conflicting answers, obscure definitions, or no answer at all,
conspire to stop you. But don’t let it, ne hastas abieceris.
If you hesitate on which word to choose, consult all the dictiona-
ries, run to the dictionaries of Latin synonyms (you can read about
them further down), and ask people.
Remember to have fun! Happy covering-your-home-in-Latin-
words!

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A little Latin every day:

How to learn Latin with
short texts and audio

Written by Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

How to Learn Latin?

W hen my students ask me how to learn Latin, I always say, spend

as much time with it as possible, read as much as possible, pre-
ferably for hours each day.
This is, of course, easier said than done. In this day and age, it’s

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not at all evident how to find all the time needed to learn Latin to a
high level, especially if you are not doing it in an academic setting but
rather in your leisure time.
However, it is oftentimes underestimated how much progress you
can make in Latin or any other language by just spending 5–10 mi-
nutes a day on a focused task. Quite quickly, the minutes amount to
hours and the small steps to great progress.

Master Shorter Latin Texts

I n my experience when we have little time, focusing on shorter texts

and really mastering them, understanding the vocabulary and the
grammar and conquering the texts, so to speak, builds an enormous
amount of confidence:
Even if we feel like we don’t know Latin, or that we aren’t progres-
sing, we can look at the shorter texts we’ve thoroughly mastered and
say:

“yeah, maybe I have a long way to go, but that text I

understand fully, it’s mine.”

This bite-sized approach was a big part of how I learned French and
Latin. Granted, if you have the time, combining this approach with
extensive reading is ideal. A byproduct of focusing on mastering shor-

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ter texts is that you can more easily remember exact quotes, construc-
tions or contexts appropriate for a particular word.

Learn Latin Every Day

I n the first article in this e-book I outlined a method I’ve used to

master shorter texts as a way of building language ability and con-
fidence as well as study habits. I discuss this further in a talk here (in
Latin).
The basic idea is that you pick a short text and study it for a few
minutes everyday in various ways, ranging from cursive reading to
looking up anything difficult, to reading and understanding it fully
simultaneously.

Where to get Short Texts?

S o if you do have a few minutes, and want to work with some short
and interesting texts, where do you get them?
One way is to go look through Latin literature, anthologies and
Latin readers. But tracking down and finding interesting texts takes a
lot of time
Let’s see what you can do instead.

A Series of Short Recordings

T o help people struggling to find short, interesting Latin texts,

we record and publish short 1–5 minute episodes (you can find
them here).
We aim to provide recordings of texts from a variety of periods,

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genres and levels. This is of course a work in progress, but if it appeals

to people, we’ll continue broadening the material.
The texts are read at a fairly slow pace and are supported by a trans-
cription. Click the link below to access this series of recordings of La-
tin texts.
List of all the Latin audio episodes.

Why Audio?

T o me learning languages has always been a very auditory task,

where listening and developing listening comprehension has
been central to get a firm foothold in the language.
It also helps us avoid translating, which is at times a good tool,
but in order to read Latin fluently we have to be able to read without
hesitating, or looking up words all the time.
At first, you may need to translate, but listening over and over aga-
in while referring to a translation will slowly wean you off it. You will
gradually develop a firm command of the syntax and most of the voca-
bulary so as to be able to follow the flow of the language.
These days, listening can be done on the go quite easily and so you
can continue working on your Latin even while doing the dishes or
going to work or standing in line. I know I learned most of my French
going places and standing in line.

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Who Are They For?

I n the series we’ll try to find texts of every level and every time peri-
od, so hopefully there’ll be something for anyone wanting to spend
some time on their Latin. Nevertheless, the amount of truly easy Latin
out there is quite sparse. So depending on your level, you may have to
rely on some dictionary work and transla-
tion at first, but after listening repeatedly
you will start to internalise the language
in the texts and make them yours.
If you want to read and listen to an
easier text in Latin, check out Pugio Bru-
ti — A Crime Story in Easy Latin. Amelie
and I wanted to create a longer story that
would be quite easy (350 unique words)
to read. The response has been awesome!

What to do Now

I f you’re learning Latin, I would suggest the following:

• Go through the current episodes and find something that appe-

als to you and work with it,
• Set a goal to go through every episode or the ones you like.
I’m currently learning German with podcasts and I find that ha-
ving a limited but growing amount of material that I can work my way
though, makes creating a reading habit a lot easier.
We hope you enjoy this new attempt to promote the study of La-
tin. Let us know what you think.

The series litterae Latinae is available here.

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A guide to dictionaries of
Latin synonyms:
How to tell the difference

by Daniel Pettersson, M.A.

H as this ever happened to you?

You’re happily reading a Latin text when you come across a
word you’re not sure about.
You open the dictionary, look up the word, learn the definition, go
back to reading.
A little further down you stumble on another word. Same thing.
Look up the word, learn the… and confusion sets in. The two words
have basically the same definition.

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“What’s the difference?” “Is there a difference?”

After reading this article you’ll know how to solve these age-old ques-
tions.

________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Comprehensive works
• Short and abridged
• Latin only
• Latin dictionary with synonyms
• English–Latin: Beginning to write Latin
• Do you believe in synonyms?
• Overview: which is best?
• Ready to start?

________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

DO NUANCES MATTER?

T hrough the years, I have spent many a night pondering the diffe-
rence in meaning between so-called synonyms, in order to better
understand the nuances of the text. I have learned an immense amount

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from dictionaries of Latin synonyms through the years.

This recently became an indispensable tool as we were writing our
new book Pugio Bruti: A Crime Story in Easy Latin: Since limiting
the vocabulary was paramount, I had to find Latin words that would
work in a wide variety of contexts, while still being classically attested
in that particular context. But for learners, and readers are such dictio-
naries necessary?
Frankly, while reading a text, you can often do without knowing
the precise nuance a word carries; a general notion will often suffice to
pull you through to the author’s next thought.
But if you desire to deepen your knowledge of Latin, and peer
through the seams of synonyms, or to drape your own thoughts with
just the right words, you need to study the differences in meaning.
This can be a challenge but fortunately there is help…

WHERE TO START?

S cholars have been writing on Latin synonyms and their differences

from antiquity (e.g. Varro, and later Isidore of Seville) to today.
In the 19th century the genre flourished with a host of authors
penning dictionaries of Latin synonyms but, sine cura sis, I won’t list
them all.
Here I will rather focus on particularly useful ones that I use in my
own reading and research.
They date from the 18th to the 20th centuries.
I will present the most exhaustive ones first, more suitable for ad-
vanced studies, and then move on to more accessible works.

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Luckily, all these dictionaries of Latin synonyms are available as

PDFs, to which I have added download links.

COMPREHENSIVE WORKS

L et’s first look at the two principal works, one French and one Ger-
man.

GARDIN DUMESNIL

F irst out is J.B. Gardin Dumesnil’s, Synonymes Latins et leurs signifi-

cations, first published in 1777, but revised and translated several
times.

This is a comprehensive work, containing 7000 groups of syno-

nyms. The descriptions given are brief with examples from Latin au-
thors. There are few, if any, discussions on the distinctions made.
For that we need to turn to the next work on our list.

Download the PDFs here:

• French: Synonymes latins et leurs différentes significations (Paris
1853)
• English (earlier edition): Latin synonyms, with their different
significations (1825, London)
• Augmented German edition by Ludwig Ramshorn:
Ramshorn, Ludwig, Lateinische Synonymik, nach Gardin-Dume-
sil’s Synonymes latins, Volym 1 (Leipzig, 1831)
Ramshorn, Ludwig, Lateinische Synonymik, nach Gardin-Dume-
sil’s Synonymes latins, Volym 2 (Leipzig, 1833)

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DÖDERLEIN

T he most comprehensive work on Latin synonyms by far is Lud-

wig Döderlein’s monumental Lateinische Synonyme und Etymo-
logieen (1826–1838).
In six volumes he unveils the differences between words, giving
deeply detailed descriptions while providing his reasoning and argu-
ments for establishing them.
Sometimes there is a hint of absurda diligentia which is always
amusing.
Unfortunately, it is only available in German. (Be the first to learn
German through a dictionary of Latin synonyms?)

Download the PDFs of Döderlein’s 6-volume work here:

• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Erster Theil, (Leipzig
1826).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Zweiter Theil, (Leip-
zig 1827).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Dritter Theil, (Leipzig
1829).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Vierter Theil, (Leipzig
1831).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Fünfter Theil, (Leipzig
1836).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Sechster Theil, (Leip-
zig 1838).
• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen, Beilage: Die latei-
nische Wortbildung, (Leipzig 1839).

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SHORT & ABRIDGED: QUICK FIX?

S ometimes your German fails you, or you just don’t need all the
7000 words from Dumesnil. If so, there are several shorter works.

RAMSHORN

L udwig Ramshorn, the German translator of Dumesnil’s work, also

published an abridged version of the dictionary for schools.
The descriptions are short without any discussions or arguments
for his definitions, making it more accessible and suitable for a quick
look.
Its English translation also contains a section on morphology.

Download the PDF here:

• Dictionary of Latin Synonymes for the use of schools and private
students with a complete index (Boston 1841)

DÖDERLEIN NO.2

D öderlein – whose hand-penned six volumes on Latin synonyms

– seems to have realised that readers wanted a more streamlined
work, some light reading, if you will, so he published an abridged ver-
sion.
It keeps the various distinctions while dispensing with the reaso-
ning and argumentation behind them.

The abridged work has the added benefit of being available in se-
veral languages (English, French and German).

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Download PDFs of the work in here:

• English: Handbook of Latin Synonymes, (Andover 1859).
• French: Manuel de Synonymie Latine (Lyon 1865).
• German: Handbuch der Lateinischen Synonymik, (Leipzig
1849).

DOUTHAT

I n brevity and clarity Robert Douthat’s Latin synonymes defined from

two standpoints takes the first prize.
To delineate the differences, he moves from the generic to the spe-
cific: starting by defining the simple verb (e.g. “habere”) he moves on
to compounds (e.g. “exhibeo”).

This disposition makes it drastically different from the other dic-

tionaries but quite interesting.

Download the PDF here:

• Douthat, Robert, Latin synonymes defined from two standpoints
(1907)

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LATIN ONLY: STAYIN’ IN LATIN

T hus far we’ve talked about vernacular dictionaries of Latin syno-

nyms. Now it’s time to move on to one wholly in Latin.

POPMA

A usonius Popma’s dictionary of Latin synonyms De differentiis

verborum (Turin 1852) gives detailed yet succinct explanations
of the differences in meaning, all in Latin.
In comprehensiveness it compares to Ramshorn’s abridged version
of Dumesnil.
Popma’s strength is that it’s written entirely in Latin, keeping you
thinking in Latin: While looking up a word you’re building your
knowledge of synonyms as well as acquiring the vocabulary necessary
to discuss differences of meaning in Latin.
A priceless skill.

Download the PDF here:

• Popma, De differentiis verborum (Turin 1852).

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LATIN DICTIONARY WITH

SYNONYMS
WAGNER

W agner’s Lexicon Latinum is something in between a regular La-

tin dictionary and a dictionary of Latin synonyms.
When you look up a word you get the vernacular definition (Ger-
man, French, Italian, English – depending on the edition) as well as
several synonyms, but without explanations as to the different shades
of meaning.
With each definition you also get an example of its use.

This compact and useful work provides an overview of the word

and its synonyms without discussing their differences.

Download the PDF:

• Lexicon Latinum seu universae phraseologiae corpus congestum
(Bruges, 1878)
Wagner’s Lexicon Latinum is also available as a searchable digital
resource here.

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ENGLISH-LATIN:
BEGINNING TO WRITE LATIN?
OGILVIE

L
nyms:
ast but not least is Prof. Robert Ogilvie’s Horae Latinae; its aim
and structure is quite different from other works on Latin syno-

Written for composing Latin prose, it gives the Latin equivalents

of about 500 English expressions.
It lists the English words or expressions with descriptions of the
various ways in which they are to be rendered into Latin.
The definitions are accompanied by many examples taken from
classical works.

Download the PDF here:

• Ogilvie, Robert, Horae Latinae (London, 1901).

DO YOU BELIEVE IN SYNONYMS?

A note of warning.

Dumesnil, Döderlein, Popma and the rest have sometimes cut too
fine lines between synonyms, differentiating shades of meaning that
classical authors do not always observe (o audaciam!).

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The difference between words doesn’t necessarily lie in meaning

but in register, style, genre, author or time period.
So look to these works for guidance rather than revelations of hid-
den truths. Compare their definitions with your own view. They do
not supplant reading widely and acquiring an intuitive feeling for La-
tin.

OVERVIEW: WHICH IS BEST?

W e’ve looked at the major works and it’s time to take the next
step: using them.
Which one? you may ask. It depends on your situation and needs.
They all have their strengths. If pressed, I would suggest using a couple
in conjunction.

OVERVIEW OF DICTIONARIES OF
LATIN SYNONYMS
Regular dictionary with synonyms:
• Wagner, F., Lexicon Latinum seu universae phraseologiae corpus
congestum (Bruges, 1878).

English–Latin: great for writing Latin:

• Ogilvie, R., Horae Latinae (London, 1901).

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Shorter dictionaries for quick answers:

• Douthay, R., Latin synonymes defined from two standpoints
(1907)
• Döderlein, L, Handbook of Latin Synonymes, (Andover 1859)
• Ramshorn, L., Dictionary of Latin Synonymes (Boston 1841)

All in Latin – For staying in Latin:

• Popma, A., De differentiis verborum (Turin 1852)

Wide selection of words and brief explanations:

• Dumesnil, Synonymes latins et leurs différentes significations (Pa-
ris 1853)

The most exhaustive with detailed discussions:

• Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen (1826–1838).

READY TO START?
U nravelling the web of differences can be a hair-pulling, frustra-
ting endeavour.
It’s tempting to write off two synonymous words as identical in
meaning. Don’t.
The next time you ask yourself “what’s the difference between…?”
I’m sure you’ll go the extra mille passuum and take out your Dumes-
nil, Döderlein or Popma.
You’ll discover the differences that ultimately bring you closer to
the text, to understanding it as the author (may have) intended.

DOWNLOAD ALL DICTIONARIES

If you want to download all the dictionaries in one go, I’ve put
together a zip-file. Click here to get it.

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A few words before you

close this book

S ometimes you yearn for the feeling of accomplishment and closure

when studying. As you proceed in your studies it can at times feel
like you’re stuck. At these times, a book is always to be recommended.
Read a book, study it and when you’ve made it your own and you’ve
turned it inside out and up-side-down and learnt every word, you clo-
se it and put it on a shelf and look at it with a sense of pride.

”But what to read? Going straight to the Classical

authors is too daunting, and I want to read, not
translate! Where can I find a book that is level app-
ropriate and fun at the same time?”

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D ifficult questions. We had the same ones a while back. But not to
worry – we’ve got you covered!

Pugio Bruti: A Crime Story in Easy Latin

W e have already mentioned this book in the articles above —

Pugio Bruti: A Crime Story in Easy Latin — an exciting book/
audiobook that helps you truly internalize the
language it contains. The vocabulary used is li-
mited to 350 words.

Now, this is not a book for you if you’re looking

for a book with long, intricate Ciceronian peri-
ods to analyze. This book is for reading and un-
derstanding and enjoying Latin as a language.

It will however prepare you for the great works of Antiquity and
beyond through careful use of style and language.
Not sure if it’s the right level for you? You can read the first chap-
ters here or listen to them here if you want to.

”Riveting from beginning to end, Brutus’ Dagger is

a page-turner in the style of any classic crime novel,
with intriguing characters and a mysterious plot
that engages the reader with ease. The extraordina-
ry care put into every page by the authors is on full
display, notably in the impeccable yet accessible use
of Latin.”
— Luke Ranieri

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Ad Alpes: A Tale of Roman Life

T here is also another gem for you that we

found a while back: Ad Alpes by H.C.
Nutting. It is nothing short of one of the best
Latin readers we’ve ever come across and sol-
ves the annoying what-to-read-question. So we
decided to make it available to everyone.
The book brings you on a journey to the
Alps but also on a journey through stories from
Classical literature and the Bible.
It provides you with good Latin and good stories for extensive
reading and elevation to a much improved language.

Ad Alpes is more advanced than Pugio Bruti, and you can read the first
few chapters here. It will soon be available as an audiobook as well.

For more content such as articles, videos and audio go to:

LATINITIUM.COM

connect @
patreon/latinitium.com
facebook/latinitium.com
twitter/latinitium.com

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