Derivation of Adjectives: Latin Grammar

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GrammarDerivation of Adjectives

Derivation of Adjectives

A&G §242–250|7 rules|0 practice questions

Latin builds adjectives the way English builds gold-en, fam-ous, read-able — by clipping a suffix onto a noun or verb and letting the suffix do the meaning work.

aurum (gold) + -eus gives aureus — "made of gold." gloria + -ōsus gives gloriōsus — "full of glory." amō + -bilis gives amābilis — "capable of being loved."

Once you can spot the suffix, you can guess the meaning of an adjective you've never seen. -ālis, -āris, -ēnsis, -ānus, -īnus attach you to a thing or place; -ōsus, -ulentus fill you up with it; -bilis, -āx tell you what something can do or tends to do.

The trap: the same letters can sit on different stems, and a few endings (-eus, -ius) overlap two suffix families with very different meanings.

Pattern

noun-stem + suffix → adjective

aur- + -eus = aureus (golden)

glōri- + -ōsus = gloriōsus (full of glory)

amā- + -bilis = amābilis (lovable)

Adjective Derivation

Latin clips a meaning-bearing suffix onto a noun- or verb-stem to build an adjective whose sense you can decode from the parts.

Same suffix can attach to different stem types. Peel the suffix, find the stem, then read the meaning class — -ōsus always says "full of," -bilis always says "capable of."

Suffix → Meaning Class (the cheat sheet)

-eus / -ius — made of, of the kind of

aureus (golden, from aurum); patrius (paternal, from pater)

critical

-āceus / -īcius — made of (material)

rosāceus (of roses); laterīcius (of brick)

common

-ticus / -āneus — pertaining to, situated

domesticus (of the house); subterrāneus (underground)

common

-ālis / -āris — pertaining to

nātūrālis (natural); populāris (of the people)

critical

-īlis / -ēlis / -ūlis — pertaining to

hostīlis (hostile); patruēlis (cousin); curūlis (curule)

important

-ōsus — full of

gloriōsus (full of glory); formōsus (full of beauty, beautiful)

critical

-lentus / -lēns — full of, given to

opulentus (full of wealth); vīnolentus (given to wine)

important

-tus / -ātus / -ītus / -ūtus — provided with

barbātus (bearded); turrītus (turreted); cornūtus (horned)

important

-bundus — engaged in, in the act of

moribundus (in the act of dying); furibundus (raging)

common

-bilis — capable of being X-ed

amābilis (lovable); crēdibilis (believable)

critical

-āx — prone to, in the habit of

audāx (bold); fallāx (deceitful); rapāx (grasping)

important

-ānus / -ēnus / -īnus — belonging to, coming from

Rōmānus (Roman); Latīnus (Latin); dīvīnus (divine)

critical

-ēnsis / -ās — coming from (place-origin)

Carthāginiēnsis (Carthaginian); Arpīnās (of Arpinum)

important

-cus / -icus / -acus — belonging to (often Greek-flavored)

cīvicus (civic); Platōnicus (Platonic); Īliacus (Trojan)

important

-timus / -nus / -ernus / -urnus — of (esp. place & time)

marītimus (of the sea); vērnus (spring-); diurnus (daily); nocturnus (nightly)

common

-ārius / -tōrius — connected with, for the purpose of

ōrdinārius (regular); meritōrius (profitable)

common

See It In Action

Iuppiter haec paucis; at non Venus aurea contra

Jupiter (spoke) these things in few words; but golden Venus (replied) against (him)

— Verg. Aen. x. 16

aurea is aurum (gold) + -eus — the material/likeness suffix. Vergil uses it as a stock epithet for Venus: she's "golden" the way her statue is gilded.

Germanos consuescere Rhenum transire et in Galliam magnam eorum multitudinem venire populo Romano periculosum videbat

He saw that the Germans were getting used to crossing the Rhine and that a great multitude of them was coming into Gaul, a dangerous thing for the Roman people.

— Caes. B. G. i. 33

Two derived adjectives in one clause: Romano (Rōma + -ānus = belonging to Rome) and periculosum (perīculum + -ōsus = full of danger). The suffix is doing the heavy meaning-lifting.

animus audax subdolus varius

His spirit (was) bold, crafty, shifting

— Sall. Cat. v. 4

audāx is the verb-root aud- (from audeō, "dare") + the suffix -āx, which marks habitual disposition: "the kind that dares." Same pattern as rapāx (grasping), fallāx (deceitful).

res antea tam invisa quam falsa, nunc ut vera ita amabilis facta est

A thing formerly as hated as it was false has now become as true as it is lovable

— Plin. Pan. xxvi. 6

amābilis peels apart cleanly: amā- (the verb-stem of amāre, to love) + -bilis (capable-of-being-X-ed). Same recipe gives crēdibilis (believable), terribilis (causing terror).

Decoding an Unknown Derived Adjective

material / made-of

stem + -eus / -āceus / -īcius → "made of [stem]" or "of [stem]"

ferreus (ferrum + -eus) = "made of iron, iron-"

fullness

stem + -ōsus / -lentus → "full of [stem]" or "given to [stem]"

formōsus (forma + -ōsus) = "full of beauty, beautiful"

capability (passive)

verb-stem + -bilis → "capable of being [stem-ed]"

crēdibilis (crēd- + -bilis) = "capable of being believed, believable"

disposition (active)

verb-root + -āx → "in the habit of [stem-ing], prone to [stem]"

rapāx (rap- + -āx) = "prone to grabbing, grasping"

place- / group-origin

proper-noun + -ānus / -īnus / -ēnsis → "belonging to / coming from [place]"

Carthāginiēnsis (Carthāgō + -iēnsis) = "of Carthage, Carthaginian"

*-eus* (made of) vs. *-eus* (belonging to)

The same letters cover two meaning families. Material -eus (from §247) and ethnic/origin -eus (from §249) look identical on the page.

*-eus* = made of (material)

the substance the thing is built from

aureus (from aurum)

made of gold, golden

*-eus* = belonging to (origin)

the group or kind the thing comes from

fēmineus (from fēmina)

of a woman, feminine

Tip: Ask: is the noun-stem a substance (aurum, ferrum, lac) or a person/category (fēmina, plēbs, patrēs)? Substance → "made of." Person/category → "belonging to."

Quick Check

You meet bellicōsus in a passage about Gallic tribes. From the suffix alone, what's the best gloss?

Study Tips

•Memorize the suffix-to-meaning chart in the ConstructionMap — it unlocks a huge fraction of the AP vocabulary you'll meet but never had to drill.
•When you hit an unknown adjective, peel off the suffix first, then guess at the noun-stem underneath. belli-cus → bellum + "pertaining to" → "of war."
•Watch for the -eus trap: aureus (made of gold, from aurum) and fēmineus (of/belonging to a woman, from fēmina) share the suffix but cover two different meaning families.

See It In Action

Iuppiter haec paucis; at non Venus aurea contra

Jupiter (spoke) these things in few words; but golden Venus (replied) against (him)

— Verg. Aen. x. 16

aurea is aurum (gold) + -eus — the material/likeness suffix. Vergil uses it as a stock epithet for Venus: she's "golden" the way her statue is gilded.

Germanos consuescere Rhenum transire et in Galliam magnam eorum multitudinem venire populo Romano periculosum videbat

He saw that the Germans were getting used to crossing the Rhine and that a great multitude of them was coming into Gaul, a dangerous thing for the Roman people.

— Caes. B. G. i. 33

Two derived adjectives in one clause: Romano (Rōma + -ānus = belonging to Rome) and periculosum (perīculum + -ōsus = full of danger). The suffix is doing the heavy meaning-lifting.

animus audax subdolus varius

His spirit (was) bold, crafty, shifting

— Sall. Cat. v. 4

audāx is the verb-root aud- (from audeō, "dare") + the suffix -āx, which marks habitual disposition: "the kind that dares." Same pattern as rapāx (grasping), fallāx (deceitful).

res antea tam invisa quam falsa, nunc ut vera ita amabilis facta est

A thing formerly as hated as it was false has now become as true as it is lovable

— Plin. Pan. xxvi. 6

amābilis peels apart cleanly: amā- (the verb-stem of amāre, to love) + -bilis (capable-of-being-X-ed). Same recipe gives crēdibilis (believable), terribilis (causing terror).

Study Tips

•Memorize the suffix-to-meaning chart in the ConstructionMap — it unlocks a huge fraction of the AP vocabulary you'll meet but never had to drill.

•When you hit an unknown adjective, peel off the suffix first, then guess at the noun-stem underneath. belli-cus → bellum + "pertaining to" → "of war."

•Watch for the -eus trap: aureus (made of gold, from aurum) and fēmineus (of/belonging to a woman, from fēmina) share the suffix but cover two different meaning families.