Latin: to the highest?
January 13, 2010 8:36 PM Subscribe
Latin scholars: how would one say "to the highest"?
My fairly uninformed guess would be "ad excelsis" (by analogy with "in excelsis," assuming that it's bearing the proper declension by being the object of a preposition in either case), but I have no formal Latin schooling and most of what I know comes from historical linguistic study and from triangulating between the Romance languages I do know, none of which has any help to offer in declining Latin nouns (or even picking the right one). It's for the title of something, and I want to make sure I get it right.
My fairly uninformed guess would be "ad excelsis" (by analogy with "in excelsis," assuming that it's bearing the proper declension by being the object of a preposition in either case), but I have no formal Latin schooling and most of what I know comes from historical linguistic study and from triangulating between the Romance languages I do know, none of which has any help to offer in declining Latin nouns (or even picking the right one). It's for the title of something, and I want to make sure I get it right.
It could depend on the context - physical heights, or intuitive ones? altissimus would be my go-to for this, being the superlative form of 'high', but it might not be appropriate for your meaning.
posted by AthenaPolias at 9:08 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by AthenaPolias at 9:08 PM on January 13, 2010
'altissimus' is another way to say 'highest.'
make sure it's in the proper case. i would tell you what it would be, but i've long forgotten my high-school latin.
posted by chicago2penn at 9:45 PM on January 13, 2010
make sure it's in the proper case. i would tell you what it would be, but i've long forgotten my high-school latin.
posted by chicago2penn at 9:45 PM on January 13, 2010
ad excelsimus (adding the -imus in latin is the superlative)
Excelsis is the superlative; excelsus is the positive degree and excelsior is the comparitive.
I believe you already have the right answer. Don't take my word for it though.
posted by hotdiggitydog at 10:20 PM on January 13, 2010
Excelsis is the superlative; excelsus is the positive degree and excelsior is the comparitive.
I believe you already have the right answer. Don't take my word for it though.
posted by hotdiggitydog at 10:20 PM on January 13, 2010
"Per adua ad alta"?
posted by honey-barbara at 10:55 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by honey-barbara at 10:55 PM on January 13, 2010
Best answer: Per the usual disclaimer of rustiness, IANALatinist/Linguist, and I have neither a dictionary nor an OLD in front of me, but to add on to what's been said:
In translating height into Latin, you can go with either excelsum or altus, with their more well-known usages being in excelsis (in the highest) and citius, altius, fortius (swifter, higher, stronger), the motto of the Olympics. Excelsum as used in "in excelsis" is a noun, usually meaning a high place or rank or in the plural an altar or temple. Altus/a/um is usually in its adjectival form meaning high, profound or noble. As is usual with Latin, altum can be used as a substantive to be a high place or height, and excelsum is used as an adjective via excelsus/a/um, whose form is excelsissimus in the superlative meaning highest. Although you can use excelsissimum substantively though I don't know how appropriate it would be.
You're available options then would be:
ad altissimum (to the highest)
ad excelsa (to heights/to the highest) - you'd want to use the accusative case with the preposition 'ad'
ad excelsissimum (to the highest)
posted by palionex at 12:56 AM on January 14, 2010
In translating height into Latin, you can go with either excelsum or altus, with their more well-known usages being in excelsis (in the highest) and citius, altius, fortius (swifter, higher, stronger), the motto of the Olympics. Excelsum as used in "in excelsis" is a noun, usually meaning a high place or rank or in the plural an altar or temple. Altus/a/um is usually in its adjectival form meaning high, profound or noble. As is usual with Latin, altum can be used as a substantive to be a high place or height, and excelsum is used as an adjective via excelsus/a/um, whose form is excelsissimus in the superlative meaning highest. Although you can use excelsissimum substantively though I don't know how appropriate it would be.
You're available options then would be:
ad altissimum (to the highest)
ad excelsa (to heights/to the highest) - you'd want to use the accusative case with the preposition 'ad'
ad excelsissimum (to the highest)
posted by palionex at 12:56 AM on January 14, 2010
Ad summa tendendum is my alma mater's motto, and we were always told that this translated to "strive for the highest".
posted by car01 at 2:41 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by car01 at 2:41 AM on January 14, 2010
Can you give the full sentence you're trying to translate? You need either in altos or in excelsos to convey either height or position, as people have said above. But if you're trying to say "to the highest degree," or some such, you'll need adverbs.
posted by venividivici at 3:16 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by venividivici at 3:16 AM on January 14, 2010
"'Citior, altior, fortior' reads the ancient Olympic motto.
If Latin's all Greek to you, that means faster, higher, stronger - ..."
posted by Carol Anne at 5:59 AM on January 14, 2010
If Latin's all Greek to you, that means faster, higher, stronger - ..."
posted by Carol Anne at 5:59 AM on January 14, 2010
venividivici is absolutely right. As you can see, there there are several ways to it. To translate it, we need to know to the highest what and in what sense of high.
posted by nangar at 6:55 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by nangar at 6:55 AM on January 14, 2010
Response by poster: I'm looking for it in the sense of a motto, I guess. "To reach the highest point," though I think I'd mean it figuratively... in the sense of to excel (heh), to reach the peak of ability, etc.
posted by Kosh at 7:38 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Kosh at 7:38 AM on January 14, 2010
I think you want ad excelsum.
Please let some other people weigh in on this though. My knowledge of Latin isn't that great. (Like palionex, I'm a bit dubious about excelsissimum, but my intuition that it "sounds funny" doesn't mean much and could be totally wrong.)
posted by nangar at 8:33 AM on January 14, 2010
Please let some other people weigh in on this though. My knowledge of Latin isn't that great. (Like palionex, I'm a bit dubious about excelsissimum, but my intuition that it "sounds funny" doesn't mean much and could be totally wrong.)
posted by nangar at 8:33 AM on January 14, 2010
If you're going for a motto (not necessarily the words you used), then maybe you're looking for ad astra per aspera. To the stars by (our?) aspirations.
posted by cmoj at 11:02 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by cmoj at 11:02 AM on January 14, 2010
Response by poster: I think I'm going to go with "ad excelsa" after reviewing everyone's answers and Googling a bit to see in what contexts it's used. Thanks for the contributions, everyone. :)
posted by Kosh at 11:24 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by Kosh at 11:24 AM on January 14, 2010
(also, just to nitpick: -imus is not the superlative ending for regular Latin nouns. -issimus is. others decline irregularly or change words altogether (like good/better/best; bonus/melior/optimus).)
posted by AthenaPolias at 10:22 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by AthenaPolias at 10:22 PM on January 14, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:03 PM on January 13, 2010