an Italic language spoken in ancient Rome, fixed in the 2nd or 1st century b.c., and established as the official language of the Roman Empire. Abbreviation:L
2.
one of the forms of literary Latin, as Medieval Latin, Late Latin, Biblical Latin, or Liturgical Latin, or of nonclassical Latin, as Vulgar Latin.
3.
a native or inhabitant of Latium; an ancient Roman.
4.
a member of any of the Latin peoples, or those speaking chiefly Romance languages, esp. a native of or émigré from Latin America.
5.
a member of the Latin Church; a Roman Catholic, as distinguished from a member of the Greek Church.
–adjective
6.
denoting or pertaining to those peoples, as the Italians, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., using languages derived from Latin, esp. the peoples of Central and South America: a meeting of the Latin republics.
7.
of or pertaining to the Latin Church.
8.
of or pertaining to Latium, its inhabitants, or their language.
9.
of or pertaining to the Latin alphabet.
[Origin: bef. 950; ME, OE < L Latīnus.See Latium, -ine1]
The Indo-European language of the ancient Latins and Romans and the most important cultural language of western Europe until the end of the 17th century.
The Latin language and literature from the end of the third century B.C. to the end of the second century A.D.
A member of a Latin people, especially a native or inhabitant of Latin America.
A Latino or Latina.
A member of a Latin people, especially a native or inhabitant of Latin America.
A Latino or Latina.
A native or resident of ancient Latium.
adj.
Of, relating to, or composed in Latin: a Latin scholar; Latin verse.
Of or relating to ancient Rome, its people, or its culture.
Of or relating to Latium, its people, or its culture.
Of or relating to the peoples, countries, or cultures of Latin America.
Of or relating to Latinos or their culture.
Of or relating to the languages that developed from Latin, such as Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, or to the peoples that speak them.
Of or relating to the peoples, countries, or cultures of Latin America.
Of or relating to Latinos or their culture.
Of or relating to the Roman Catholic Church.
[Middle English, from Old French and from Old English lǣden, both from Latin Latīnus, from Latium, an ancient country of west-central Italy.]
O.E. latin, from L. Latinus "belonging to Latium," the region of Italy around Rome, possibly from PIE base *stela- "to spread, extend," with a sense of "flat country" (as opposed to the mountainous district of the Sabines), or from a prehistoric non-IE language.
Centurion: What's this, then? ‘People called Romanes they go the house?’ Brian: It ... it says, ‘Romans, go home.’ Centurion [thrashing him like a schoolboy]: No, it doesn't. ‘Go home?' This is motion towards. Isn't it, boy? Brian: Ah ... ah, dative, sir! Ahh! No, not dative! Not the dative, sir! No! Ah! Oh, the ... accusative! Domum, sir! Ah! Oooh! Ah! Centurion [pulling him by the ear]: Except that domum takes the ...? Brian: The locative, sir! [Monty Python, "Life of Brian"]
Used as a designation for "people whose languages descend from Latin" (1856), hence Latin American (1893). The Latin Quarter (Fr. Quartier latin) of Paris, on the south (left) bank of the Seine, was the site of university buildings in the Middle Ages, hence the place where Latin was spoken. The surname Latimer, Lattimore, etc. is from V.L. latimarus, from L. latinarius "interpreter," lit. "a speaker of Latin."
The language of ancient Rome. When Rome became an empire, the language spread throughout southern and western Europe.
Note: The modern Romance languages — French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and a few others — are all derived from Latin.
Note: During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Latin was the universal language of learning. Even in modern English, many scholarly, technical, and legal terms, such as per se and habeas corpus, retain their Latin form.
La*teen"\, a. (Naut.) Of or pertaining to a peculiar rig used in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters, esp. on the northern coast of Africa. See below. Lateen sail. [F. voile latine a sail in the shape of a right-angled triangle; cf. It. & Sp. vela latina; properly Latin sail. See Latin.] (Naut.) A triangular sail, extended by a long yard, which is slung at about one fourth of its length from the lower end, to a low mast, this end being brought down at the tack, while the other end is elevated at an angle or about forty-five degrees; -- used in small boats, feluccas, xebecs, etc., especially in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Some lateen sails have also a boom on the lower side.
Lat"in\, a. [F., fr. L. Latinus belonging to Latium, Latin, fr. Latium a country of Italy, in which Rome was situated. Cf. Ladin, Lateen sail, under Lateen.]1. Of or pertaining to Latium, or to the Latins, a people of Latium; Roman; as, the Latin language. 2. Of, pertaining to, or composed in, the language used by the Romans or Latins; as, a Latin grammar; a Latin composition or idiom. Latin Church (Eccl. Hist.), the Western or Roman Catholic Church, as distinct from the Greek or Eastern Church. Latin cross. See Illust. 1 of Cross. Latin races, a designation sometimes loosely given to certain nations, esp. the French, Spanish, and Italians, who speak languages principally derived from Latin. Latin Union, an association of states, originally comprising France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy, which, in 1865, entered into a monetary agreement, providing for an identity in the weight and fineness of the gold and silver coins of those countries, and for the amounts of each kind of coinage by each. Greece, Servia, Roumania, and Spain subsequently joined the Union.
Lat"in\, n. 1. A native or inhabitant of Latium; a Roman. 2. The language of the ancient Romans. 3. An exercise in schools, consisting in turning English into Latin. [Obs.] --Ascham. 4. (Eccl.) A member of the Roman Catholic Church. Dog Latin, barbarous Latin; a jargon in imitation of Latin; as, the log Latin of schoolboys. Late Latin, Low Latin, terms used indifferently to designate the latest stages of the Latin language; low Latin (and, perhaps, late Latin also), including the barbarous coinages from the French, German, and other languages into a Latin form made after the Latin had become a dead language for the people. Law Latin, that kind of late, or low, Latin, used in statutes and legal instruments; -- often barbarous.
Law\ (l[add]), n. [OE. lawe, laghe, AS. lagu, from the root of E. lie: akin to OS. lag, Icel. l["o]g, Sw. lag, Dan. lov; cf. L. lex, E. legal. A law is that which is laid, set, or fixed; like statute, fr. L. statuere to make to stand. See Lie to be prostrate.]1. In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts. Note: A law may be universal or particular, written or unwritten, published or secret. From the nature of the highest laws a degree of permanency or stability is always implied; but the power which makes a law, or a superior power, may annul or change it. These are the statutes and judgments and law, which the Lord made. --Lev. xxvi. 46. The law of thy God, and the law of the King. --Ezra vii. 26. As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself. --Milton. His mind his kingdom, and his will his law. --Cowper. 2. In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature. 3. The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament. What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. --Rom. iii. 19, 21. 4. In human government: (a) An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community. (b) Any edict, decree, order, ordinance, statute, resolution, judicial, decision, usage, etc., or recognized, and enforced, by the controlling authority. 5. In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation. 6. In matematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence. 7. In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist. 8. Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; -- including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law. 9. Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice. Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason. --Coke. Law is beneficence acting by rule. --Burke. And sovereign Law, that state's collected will O'er thrones and globes elate, Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. --Sir W. Jones. 10. Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law. When every case in law is right. --Shak. He found law dear and left it cheap. --Brougham. 11. An oath, as in the presence of a court. [Obs.] See Wager of law, under Wager. Avogadro's law (Chem.), a fundamental conception, according to which, under similar conditions of temperature and pressure, all gases and vapors contain in the same volume the same number of ultimate molecules; -- so named after Avogadro, an Italian scientist. Sometimes called Amp[`e]re's law. Bode's law (Astron.), an approximative empirical expression of the distances of the planets from the sun, as follows: -- Mer. Ven. Earth. Mars. Aste. Jup. Sat. Uran. Nep. 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 3 6 12 24 48 96 192 384 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- --- 4 7 10 16 28 52 100 196 388 5.9 7.3 10 15.2 27.4 52 95.4 192 300 where each distance (line third) is the sum of 4 and a multiple of 3 by the series 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, etc., the true distances being given in the lower line. Boyle's law (Physics), an expression of the fact, that when an elastic fluid is subjected to compression, and kept at a constant temperature, the product of the pressure and volume is a constant quantity, i. e., the volume is inversely proportioned to the pressure; -- known also as Mariotte's law, and the law of Boyle and Mariotte. Brehon laws. See under Brehon. Canon law, the body of ecclesiastical law adopted in the Christian Church, certain portions of which (for example, the law of marriage as existing before the Council of Tent) were brought to America by the English colonists as part of the common law of the land. --Wharton. Civil law, a term used by writers to designate Roman law, with modifications thereof which have been made in the different countries into which that law has been introduced. The civil law, instead of the common law, prevails in the State of Louisiana. --Wharton. Commercial law. See Law merchant (below). Common law. See under Common. Criminal law, that branch of jurisprudence which relates to crimes. Ecclesiastical law. See under Ecclesiastical. Grimm's law (Philol.), a statement (propounded by the German philologist Jacob Grimm) of certain regular changes which the primitive Indo-European mute consonants, so-called (most plainly seen in Sanskrit and, with some changes, in Greek and Latin), have undergone in the Teutonic languages. Examples: Skr. bh[=a]tr, L. frater, E. brother, G. bruder; L. tres, E. three, G. drei, Skr. go, E. cow, G. kuh; Skr. dh[=a] to put, Gr. ti-qe`-nai, E. do, OHG, tuon, G. thun. Kepler's laws (Astron.), three important laws or expressions of the order of the planetary motions, discovered by John Kepler. They are these: (1) The orbit of a planet with respect to the sun is an ellipse, the sun being in one of the foci. (2) The areas swept over by a vector drawn from the sun to a planet are proportioned to the times of describing them. (3) The squares of the times of revolution of two planets are in the ratio of the cubes of their mean distances. Law binding, a plain style of leather binding, used for law books; -- called also law calf. Law book, a book containing, or treating of, laws. Law calf. See Law binding (above). Law day. (a) Formerly, a day of holding court, esp. a court-leet. (b) The day named in a mortgage for the payment of the money to secure which it was given. [U. S.] Law French, the dialect of Norman, which was used in judicial proceedings and law books in England from the days of William the Conqueror to the thirty-sixth year of Edward III. Law language, the language used in legal writings and forms. Law Latin. See under Latin. Law lords, peers in the British Parliament who have held high judicial office, or have been noted in the legal profession. Law merchant, or Commercial law, a system of rules by which trade and commerce are regulated; -- deduced from the custom of merchants, and regulated by judicial decisions, as also by enactments of legislatures. Law of Charles (Physics), the law that the volume of a given mass of gas increases or decreases, by a definite fraction of its value for a given rise or fall of temperature; -- sometimes less correctly styled Gay Lussac's law, or Dalton's law. Law of nations. See International law, under International. Law of nature. (a) A broad generalization expressive of the constant action, or effect, of natural conditions; as, death is a law of nature; self-defense is a law of nature. See Law, 4. (b) A term denoting the standard, or system, of morality deducible from a study of the nature and natural relations of human beings independent of supernatural revelation or of municipal and social usages. Law of the land, due process of law; the general law of the land. Laws of honor. See under Honor. Laws of motion (Physics), three laws defined by Sir Isaac Newton: (1) Every body perseveres in its state of rest or of moving uniformly in a straight line, except so far as it is made to change that state by external force. (2) Change of motion is proportional to the impressed force, and takes place in the direction in which the force is impressed. (3) Reaction is always equal and opposite to action, that is to say, the actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and in opposite directions. Marine law, or Maritime law, the law of the sea; a branch of the law merchant relating to the affairs of the sea, such as seamen, ships, shipping, navigation, and the like. --Bouvier. Mariotte's law. See Boyle's law (above). Martial law.See under Martial. Military law, a branch of the general municipal law, consisting of rules ordained for the government of the military force of a state in peace and war, and administered in courts martial. --Kent. Warren's Blackstone. Moral law,the law of duty as regards what is right and wrong in the sight of God; specifically, the ten commandments given by Moses. See Law, 2. Mosaic, or Ceremonial, law. (Script.) See Law, 3. Municipal, or Positive, law, a rule prescribed by the supreme power of a state, declaring some right, enforcing some duty, or prohibiting some act; -- distinguished from international and constitutional law. See Law, 1. Periodic law. (Chem.) See under Periodic. Roman law, the system of principles and laws found in the codes and treatises of the lawmakers and jurists of ancient Rome, and incorporated more or less into the laws of the several European countries and colonies founded by them. See Civil law (above). Statute law, the law as stated in statutes or positive enactments of the legislative body. Sumptuary law. See under Sumptuary. To go to law, to seek a settlement of any matter by bringing it before the courts of law; to sue or prosecute some one. Totake, or have, the law of, to bring the law to bear upon; as, to take the law of one's neighbor. --Addison. Wager of law. See under Wager. Syn: Justice; equity. Usage: Law, Statute, Common law, Regulation, Edict, Decree. Law is generic, and, when used with reference to, or in connection with, the other words here considered, denotes whatever is commanded by one who has a right to require obedience. A statute is a particular law drawn out in form, and distinctly enacted and proclaimed. Common law is a rule of action founded on long usage and the decisions of courts of justice. A regulation is a limited and often, temporary law, intended to secure some particular end or object. An edict is a command or law issued by a sovereign, and is peculiar to a despotic government. A decree is a permanent order either of a court or of the executive government. See Justice.
Low\, a. [Compar. Lower; superl. Lowest.] [OE. low, louh, lah, Icel. l[=a]gr; akin to Sw. l[*a]g, Dan. lav, D. laag, and E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate.]1. Occupying an inferior position or place; not high or elevated; depressed in comparison with something else; as, low ground; a low flight. 2. Not rising to the usual height; as, a man of low stature; a low fence. 3. Near the horizon; as, the sun is low at four o'clock in winter, and six in summer. 4. Sunk to the farthest ebb of the tide; as, low tide. 5. Beneath the usual or remunerative rate or amount, or the ordinary value; moderate; cheap; as, the low price of corn; low wages. 6. Not loud; as, a low voice; a low sound. 7. (Mus.) Depressed in the scale of sounds; grave; as, a low pitch; a low note. 8. (Phon.) Made, as a vowel, with a low position of part of the tongue in relation to the palate; as, ? (?m), ? (all). See Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 5, 10, 11. 9. Near, or not very distant from, the equator; as, in the low northern latitudes. 10. Numerically small; as, a low number. 11. Wanting strength or animation; depressed; dejected; as, low spirits; low in spirits. 12. Depressed in condition; humble in rank; as, men of low condition; the lower classes. Why but to keep ye low and ignorant ? --Milton. 13. Mean; vulgar; base; dishonorable; as, a person of low mind; a low trick or stratagem. 14. Not elevated or sublime; not exalted or diction; as, a low comparison. In comparison of these divine writers, the noblest wits of the heathen world are low and dull. --Felton. 15. Submissive; humble. "Low reverence." --Milton. 16. Deficient in vital energy; feeble; weak; as, a low pulse; made low by sickness. 17. Moderate; not intense; not inflammatory; as, low heat; a low temperature; a low fever. 18. Smaller than is reasonable or probable; as, a low estimate. 19. Not rich, high seasoned, or nourishing; plain; simple; as, a low diet. Note: Low is often used in the formation of compounds which require no special explanation; as, low-arched, low- browed, low-crowned, low-heeled, low-lying, low-priced, low-roofed, low-toned, low-voiced, and the like. Low Church. See High Church, under High. Low Countries, the Netherlands. Low German, Low Latin, etc. See under German, Latin, etc. Low life, humble life. Low milling, a process of making flour from grain by a single grinding and by siftings. Low relief. See Bas-relief. Low side window (Arch.), a peculiar form of window common in medi[ae]val churches, and of uncertain use. Windows of this sort are narrow, near the ground, and out of the line of the windows, and in many different situations in the building. Low spirits, despondency. Low steam, steam having a low pressure. Low steel, steel which contains only a small proportion of carbon, and can not be hardened greatly by sudden cooling. Low Sunday, the Sunday next after Easter; -- popularly so called. Low tide, the farthest ebb of the tide; the tide at its lowest point; low water. Low water. (a) The lowest point of the ebb tide; a low stage of the in a river, lake, etc. (b) (Steam Boiler) The condition of an insufficient quantity of water in the boiler. Low wateralarm or indicator (Steam Boiler), a contrivance of various forms attached to a boiler for giving warning when the water is low. Low water mark, that part of the shore to which the waters recede when the tide is the lowest. --Bouvier. Low wine, a liquor containing about 20 percent of alcohol, produced by the first distillation of wash; the first run of the still; -- often in the plural.
Un"ion\ (?; 277), n. [F., from L. unio oneness, union, a single large pearl, a kind of onion, fr. unus one. See One, and cf. Onion, Unit.]1. The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one, or the state of being united or joined; junction; coalition; combination. Note: Union differs from connection, as it implies that the bodies are in contact, without an inter?ening body; whereas things may be connected by the in???vention of a third body, as by a cord or chain. 2. Agreement and conjunction of mind, spirit, will, affections, or the like; harmony; concord. 3. That which is united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; a league; as, the weavers have formed a union; trades unions have become very numerous; the United States of America are often called the Union. --A. Hamilton. 4. A textile fabric composed of two or more materials, as cotton, silk, wool, etc., woven together. 5. A large, fine pearl. [Obs.] If they [pearls] be white, great, round, smooth, and weighty . . . our dainties and delicates here at Rome . . . call them unions, as a man would say "singular," and by themselves alone. --Holland. In the cup an union shall he throw, Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn. --Shak. 6. A device emblematic of union, used on a national flag or ensign, sometimes, as in the military standard of Great Britain, covering the whole field; sometimes, as in the flag of the United States, and the English naval and marine flag, occupying the upper inner corner, the rest of the flag being called the fly. Also, a flag having such a device; especially, the flag of Great Britain. Note: The union of the United States ensign is a cluster of white stars, denoting the union of the States, and, properly, equal in number to that of the States, displayed on a blue field; the fly being composed of alternate stripes of red and white. The union of the British ensign is the three crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick in combination, denoting the union of England, Scotland and Ireland, displayed on a blue field in the national banner used on shore, on a red, white, or blue field in naval ensigns, and with a white border or fly in the merchant service. 7. (Mach.) A joint or other connection uniting parts of machinery, or the like, as the elastic pipe of a tender connecting it with the feed pipe of a locomotive engine; especially, a pipe fitting for connecting pipes, or pipes and fittings, in such a way as to facilitate disconnection. 8. (Brewing) A cask suspended on trunnions, in which fermentation is carried on. Hypostatic union (Theol.) See under Hypostatic. Latin union. See under Latin. Legislative Union (Eng. Hist.), the union of Great Britain and Ireland, which took place Jan. 1, 1801. Union, or Act of Union (Eng. Hist.), the act by which Scotland was united to England, or by which the two kingdoms were incorporated into one, in 1707. Union by the first, or second, intention. (Surg.) See To heal by the first, or second, intention, under Intention. Union down (Naut.), a signal of distress at sea made by reversing the flag, or turning its union downward. Union jack. (Naut.) See Jack, n., 10. Union joint. (Mech.) (a) A joint formed by means of a union. (b) A piece of pipe made in the form of the letter T. Syn: Unity; junction; connection; concord; alliance; coalition; combination; confederacy. Usage: Union, Unity. Union is the act of bringing two or more things together so as to make but one, or the state of being united into one. Unity is a state of simple oneness, either of essence, as the unity of God, or of action, feeling, etc., as unity of design, of affection, etc. Thus, we may speak of effecting a union of interests which shall result in a unity of labor and interest in securing a given object. One kingdom, joy, and union without end. --Milton. [Man] is to . . . beget Like of his like, his image multiplied. In unity defective; which requires Collateral love, and dearest amity. --Milton.
West"ern\, a. 1. Of or pertaining to the west; situated in the west, or in the region nearly in the direction of west; being in that quarter where the sun sets; as, the western shore of France; the western ocean. Far o'er the glowing western main. --Keble. 2. Moving toward the west; as, a ship makes a western course; coming from the west; as, a western breeze. Western Church. See Latin Church, under Latin. Western empire (Hist.), the western portion of the Roman empire, as divided, by the will of Theodosius the Great, between his sons Honorius and Arcadius, a. d. 395.
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