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Language Characteristics

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:

Latin English
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/she) baptizatur baptizatus/baptizata est


Additional Resources

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 FamilySearch Library. The call numbers begin with 473.21.

The following Latin-English dictionary is available on microfilm for use in FamilySearch Centers:

Additional dictionaries are listed under LATIN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES in the "Subject" section of the FamilySearch 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: Oxford University Press, n.d. FS Library 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. FS Library 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: Vita Nova Books, 1988.FS Library 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, England: Stevens, 1910. FS Library 422.471 M363re 1910.
  • McLaughlin, Eve. Simple Latin for Family Historians, 2nd ed. Birmingham, England, London: Federation of Family History Societies, 1987. FS Library 471.1 M273 This booklet lists Latin words frequently used in English parish registers.


External Links


Description

The official and most widely spoken language across Italy is Italian.
Of the indigenous languages, twelve are officially acknowledged as spoken by linguistic minorities: [1]

This list contains Italian words with their English translations. Italian Genealogical Word List. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources.

Italian is a Romance language derived from Latin. Italian is spoken in Italy and the southern part of Switzerland in the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden. Italian is also spoken in Yugoslavia near the border with Trieste. Some of the records of Corsica, Nice, and Savoy were written in Italian before those areas became part of France. Clusters of Italian immigrants in major cities like New York, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, and Melbourne also speak Italian. Sicilian, Neapolitan, Romanesque, and Venetian are major dialects of Italian, and they use words similar to the words on this list. Several other minor dialects are spoken in the various provinces of Italy.

This list contains Latin words with their English translations. Latin Genealogical Word List. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources.

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.

Word List(s)

Most materials used in Italian research are written in Italian. However, you do not need to speak or read Italian to do research in Italian records. You will, however, need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.

Because the Roman Catholic Church is predominant, most church records are in Latin. Because of the various political situations through the years, you may also find records from the northern areas in French or German.

Latin grammar may affect the way names appear in the church records. For example, the names Dominica and Dominicam refer to the same person. Translated into Italian, this same person would be Domenica. If the records are in Italian, the spelling of your ancestor’s name will not be affected by grammar.

For word lists and help researching in Italian records, see:

Italian

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Italian

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Italian

Additional Resources

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Languages of Italy," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Italy, accessed 24 May 2023.
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