Latin/Household Lesson 2

Salvēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity. Here you can peruse a new lesson in Latin, in a simple format. If you would like to catch up, you can find a directory of lessons, a classified vocabulary list, and Memrise courses at the links on the right.

New Vocabulary
Notes on our new vocabulary: culter, furca et coclear (knife, fork and spoon) are ancient terms but each has diminutives or variant spellings that show up through the ages (e.g. furcilla, cochlearium, cultellus). I just picked what seemed most commonly reported as a general category. Ancient Romans mostly ate with their hands while reclining on couches, with very little tableware. There are three types of chairs listed; sedes would be a chair in general but could also mean a seat/place of residence; sella is a simple chair, a stool or backless chair, or even could refer to a toilet seat; cathedra would be a more luxurious chair, an armchair with a back and maybe upholstery. We get our English words “cathedral” and “see” or “seat” (as in the domain of a bishop or other official), from these words. Also our word “president” comes from “praesidens”, one who sits before or presides over official actions. As far as I can tell the Romans did not distinguish between a bed for sleeping and a couch for reclining or sitting... both were a “lectus”. I guess you would have to be specific as to which lectus to use, the one in the cubiculum or the one in the triclinium or atrium.

Practice
We will need at least one more lesson of household terms next time. I hope you are enjoying these. Valēte!