LSP - 7 : Using a Latin Dictionary - Verbs

Let’s say you are reading some Latin, and you come across the sentence Herculēs et Īphiclēs in scūtō dormiunt. You know that Herculēs is the great hero, and Īphiclēs his brother. And you remember that in scūtō mean in a shield. But you completely forget what dormiunt means. You recognise from the -nt ending that it is a Verb and that it is in the they form, so you know that Hercules and Iphicles are doing SOMETHING in a shield. You are just not sure what.

This is where a Latin dictionary comes in handy. But Latin dictionaries have their own set of rules. You can’t just look up dormiunt and find the definition they sleep (unfortunately). Instead you have to look up dormiō.

dormiō means I sleep and, in a Latin dictionary, Verbs are listed in their I form. Likewise, you won’t find habitat or habitant in a dictionary, but you will find habitō : I live.

Moreover, when you do find dormiō in the dictionary, you will find that it will be followed by three other forms. We won’t need to worry about these for quite a while, but it’s good to know what they are:

dormiō : I sleep

dormīre : to sleep

dormīvī : I slept

dormītum : in order to sleep

And finally, despite having to look up dormiō, you will be given the definition of dormīre : to sleep. And it will be up to you to deduct that dormiunt means they sleep.

Herculēs et Īphiclēs in scūtō dormiunt.