Like most high schools in the late 1980s, mine did not offer courses in Latin. I finally got to take a full year of Latin during my B.A., which was marvelous, but I'm certain that nobody receives the sort of classical education that one might have fifty years ago. Then again, I suspect that I'm part of that tiny minority that actually would have profited from such a course of study.

But enough of this biographical detail. This list contains 60 Latin adverbs (with some prepositions and conjunctions hiding away too) that have found their way into English unchanged in form or meaning. Though some of them are extraordinarily obscure, others are regularly found in academic papers, though often abbreviated (ibidem = ibid.; videlicet = viz.). And, while some of these terms have perfectly good Anglo-Saxon equivalents, others are due for resuscitation. Try them on for size!

I hope you have found this site to be useful. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me. Please note that I am not able to respond to all requests. Please consult a major dictionary before e-mailing your query. All material on this page © 2007 Stephen Chrisomalis. Links to this page may be made without permission.