Latin Genealogical Word List
This list contains Latin words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word (or some form of it) that you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Latin-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section below.)
Latin is the mother language for many modern European languages. Many words in English, Spanish, French, and other languages resemble Latin words and have the same or similar meanings.
Latin was used in the records of most European countries and in the Roman Catholic records of the United States and Canada. Because Latin was used in so many countries, local usage varied. Certain terms were commonly used in some countries but not in others. In addition, the Latin used in British records has more abbreviations than the Latin used in European records.
LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS[edit | edit source]
Variant Forms of Words
In Latin, the endings of most words vary according to how the words are used in a sentence. Who—whose— whom or marry—marries—married are examples of words in English with variant forms. This word list gives the most commonly seen form of each Latin word. As you read Latin records, be aware that almost all words vary with usage.
Gender. Latin words for persons, places, and things (nouns) are classified as masculine, feminine, or neuter. For example, rex (king) is a masculine word, aetas (age) is a feminine word, and oppidum (town) is a neuter word.
Words that describe persons, places, or things (adjectives) will have either masculine, feminine, or neuter endings. For example, in Latin you would write magnus rex (great king), magna aetas (great age), and magnum oppidum (large town).
This word list gives only the masculine form of adjectives. For example:
- noster, nostra, nostrum (our) is listed as noster
- magnus, magna, magnum (great, large) is listed as magnus
- nobilis, nobile (noble, known) is listed as nobilis
Some words have both a male (-us) and female (-a) form, such as patrinus (godfather) and patrina (godmother). This word list usually gives only the male form even though a female form may occur in Latin records. Thus, given the word famulus (servant), you can conclude that famula is a female servant.
Similarly, this word list gives only natus est ("he was born"). You can conclude that nata est means "she was born." The plural form nati sunt means "they were born."
Plurals. Plural forms of Latin words usually end in -i, -ae, or -es. Thus patrinus (godfather) becomes patrini (godparents), filia (daughter) becomes filiae (daughters), and pater (father) becomes patres (fathers). However, these same endings may also indicate other grammatical changes besides plurality.
Grammatical Use. The endings of Latin words can also vary depending on the grammatical use of the words. Latin grammar requires a specific type of ending for a word used as the subject of the sentence, used in the possessive, used as the object of a verb, or used with a preposition. Latin words fall into several classes, each with its own set of grammatical endings.
If you do not find a Latin word in this list with the same ending as the word in your Latin document, find a similar ending in the examples below to see how the word in your document is used:
| filius | son |
| (pater) filii | (father) of the son |
| (baptizavi) filium | (I baptized the) son |
| (ex) filio | (from) the son |
| vidua | widow |
| (filius) viduae | (son) of the widow |
| (sepelivi) viduam | (I buried the) widow |
| (ex) vidua | (from) the widow |
| pater | father |
| (filius) patris | (son) of the father |
| (sepelivi) patrem | (I buried the) father |
| (ex) patre | (from) the father |
Other noun endings change as follows to show possession:
- -as may change to -atis
- -ns may change to -ntis
- -or may change to -oris
- -tio may change to -tionis
Example: sartor (tailor) changes to sartoris (of the tailor)
Words that show action (verbs) also vary depending on who is doing the action and whether the action is past, present, or future. For example, the Latin word baptizare (to baptize) will appear with various endings:
| Present | Past |
| baptize | have baptized, baptized |
| (I) baptizo | baptizavi, baptizabam |
| (he) baptizat | baptizavit, baptizabat |
| (they) baptizant | baptizaverunt, baptizabant |
| is baptized | was baptized |
| (he) baptizatur | baptizatus est |
Spelling[edit | edit source]
Spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries. The following spelling variations are common in Latin documents:
- i and j used interchangeably
- u and v used interchangeably
- e used for ae (æ)
- e used for oe (œ)
- c used for qu
Examples:
- ejusdem or eiusdem
- civis or ciuis
- preceptor or praeceptor
- celebs or coelebs
- quondam or condam
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES[edit | edit source]
This word list includes only the words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Latin-English dictionary. Latin-English dictionaries are available on each floor of the Family History Library. The call numbers begin with 473.21.
The following Latin-English dictionary is available on microfilm for use in Family History Centers:
Ainsworth, Robert. Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary, Revised Edition. London, England: F. Westly and A.H. Davis, 1836. (FHL book British Ref 473Ai65a 1836; film 599,788.)
Additional dictionaries are listed under LATIN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES in the Subject section of the Family History Library Catalog. Most bookstores carry useful, inexpensive Latin-English dictionaries.
The following sources can also be helpful for reading Latin records:
Baxter, J. H. and Charles Johnson. Medieval Latin Word-List From British and Irish Sources. London, England: Oxford University Press, n.d. (FHL book 942 A8bm.)
Grun, Paul A. Schlüssel zur alten und neuen Abkürzungen: Wörterbuch lateinischer und deutscher Abkürzungen des späten Mittlealters und der Neuzeit. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: Starke Verlag, 1966. (FHL book 943 B4gg vol. 6.) Key to ancient and modern abbreviations: Dictionary of Latin and German abbreviations of the late middle age and modern times.
Jensen, C. Russell. Parish Register Latin: An Introduction. Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Vita Nova Books, 1988. (FHL book 475 J453p.) A guide to understanding Latin as it appears in continental European church records.
Martin, Charles Trice. The Record Interpreter: A Collection of Abbreviations, Latin Words and Names Used in English Historical Manuscripts and Records, 2nd ed. London: Stevens, 1910. (FHL book 422.471 M363re 1910; 1892 edition on FHL film 547,182, item 3.)
McLaughlin, Eve. Simple Latin for Family Historians, 2nd ed. Birmingham, England: Federation of Family History Societies, 1987. (FHL book 471.1 M273.) This booklet lists Latin words frequently used in English parish registers.
KEY WORDS[edit | edit source]
To find and use specific types of Latin records, you will need to know some key words in Latin. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and gives the Latin words that have the same or similar meanings.
For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Latin words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Latin records to indicate marriage.
| English | Latin |
| birth | nati, natus, genitus, natales, ortus, oriundus |
| burial | sepulti, sepultus, humatus, humatio |
| christening | baptismi, baptizatus, renatus, plutus, lautus, purgatus, ablutus, lustratio |
| child | infans, filius/filia, puer, proles |
| death | mortuus, defunctus, obitus, denatus, decessus, peritus, mors, mortis, obiit, decessit |
| father | pater |
| godparent | patrini, levantes, susceptores, compater, commater, matrina |
| husband | maritus, sponsus, conjux, vir |
| marriage | matrimonium, copulatio, copulati, conjuncti, intronizati, nupti, sponsati, ligati, mariti |
| marriage | banns banni, proclamationes, denuntiationes |
| mother | mater |
| name | given name nomen |
| name | surname cognomen |
| parents | parentes, genitores |
| wife | uxor, marita, conjux, sponsa, mulier, femina, consors |