Basic Details
Word: Latin
Part of Speech: Noun and adjective
Meaning: The language of ancient Rome. Many English words, especially in science, law and medicine, come from Latin.
How to Spell Latin
Syllables: Lat - in
Tricky part: The ending is -in, not -en or -an, and the t is single. As the name of a language it takes a capital L.
Watch out for: Lattin, Laten, Latan
Memory tip: Lat + in: a short word spelt as it sounds. Like Hindi, Sanskrit and English, the name of a language starts with a capital letter.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The motto on our school badge is written in Latin.
Example 2: Doctors still use many Latin words for parts of the body.
Example 3: The scientific name of the tiger, Panthera tigris, is in Latin form.
Fun Fact
The abbreviations a.m. and p.m. stand for the Latin ante meridiem and post meridiem, before midday and after midday.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. vocabulery 2. Latin 3. alfabet 4. grammer
a) the rules for putting words together
b) the language of ancient Rome
c) all the words a person knows
d) the set of letters used to write a language
Show answer
b) the language of ancient Rome. Grammar ends in -ar, vocabulary in -ary, and alphabet uses ph.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Many words in science come from Laten and Greek, so our biology teacher often explains where the names of plants and animals first came from.
a) animals
b) Greek
c) biology
d) Laten
Show answer
d) Laten. The name of the Roman language ends in -in: Latin.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The motto on the old school crest is written in Ntali.
a) Italian
b) Latvian
c) Tamil
d) Latin
Show answer
d) Latin. Tamil needs an m, and Italian and Latvian are longer than the five letters of the jumble.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these everyday phrases comes from Latin?
a) kindergarten
b) et cetera
c) tsunami
d) bon voyage
Show answer
b) et cetera
2. Latin was the language of ____.
a) ancient Rome
b) ancient Egypt
c) ancient China
d) ancient India
Show answer
a) ancient Rome
