Latin in a Greek dictionary: an attempt at a taxonomy

  • “educated” people used to employ these Latin abbreviations Latin, and navigation in the dictionary: v. [see], s.v. [look in entry for ..], cf. [compare..], sq. [next entry], infr. [further down in this entry], supra [further up in this entry]
  • grammatical terms Latin: you’re probably used to them if you’re already using LSJ, or can figure them out: acc., gen., inf., pf.; med.,..
  • (critical) edition Latin: v.l. [variant reading], s.v.l. [if this is the true reading], f.l. [false reading, that is rejected by scholars], ap. [in (other author)]
  • “Greek learners already know Latin” Latin: explaining οὔτε…οὔτε with neque…neque
  • scientific names should be in Latin Latin: πλάτανος, Platanus orientalis.
  • Greek borrowed to Latin Latin: ὤκινον ocinum, (lots of Pliny and Columella citations) 
  • Latin borrowed to Greek Latin: λεγεών (λεγιών), λεγιονάριος, μουλίων, Lat. mulio, muleteer, φάσκος, fascis (in plural the, umm, fasces), σεσσιών for sessio : everything you need to describe a Roman army and a government. The Price edict of Diocletian (Edict.Diocl.) frequently features here.
  • late Latin gloss: for some words, this is all we seem to have: ἀκαταδίκαστος, “indemnatus, Gloss.”, ἀγαθοσύμβουλος benesuasor, Gloss. (but compare DGE if you’re in that part of the alphabet!) 
  • IE extras: Etymological comments tend to include any available Latin cognates: ἰξός, Prob. ϝιξός, cf. Lat. viscum, viscusεἶδον, videre. 

And finally, the one you have been waiting for:

  • puritanical Latin: Human excrement; sexual activity with humans or animals; esp. when it comes to ‘unnatural vice’: πυγίζω, ἐκχέζω, φιλοπυγιστής, πρωκτίζω, ἀνδροβατέω, parts: pudenda muliebria (it’s pig, not pussy in Greek, but also bull, box, and many more), membrum virile.. In these last cases, I tend to update the short definition (which were originally automatically harvested from the dictionaries). I haven’t quite mustered the courage to write ‘shit’ and its various tenses as easily as James Diggle in the Cambridge Greek Lexicon, but I can still do something to improve matters.

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