MooT Question Icon
In Latin amare means "to love." What given name means "she who is worthy of love" in Latin?




Etymology, Etymology, and more Etymology
as well as grammar, usage, euphemism, slang, jargon, semantics (meaning), linguistics, neologism, idiom, word origin, syntax, dialect, lexicon (vocabulary), diction, pidgin, synonym, antonym, homonym, cant, argot, lingo, and redundancy.


A picture of a moot game

The critically-acclaimed board game MooT consists of tough questions about the nuances of the English language.
To join our mailing list and get free brain-twisting MooT questions sent to you irregularly, enter your email address and then press submit.

E-Mail address:




Back to home page



Answer: Amanda

Similarly, in Latin the name Festus means "festive" and Octavius means "the eighth."

Note: according to mre-@-xtra.co.nz, a better translation of the name would be "she who must be loved" - the gerundive, along the same lines as agenda, what ought to be done, and propaganda, what ought to be disseminated.


Please note that these are draft questions for the board game MooT.
If you spot an error or disagree with anything I've said here,
please let me know and I'll fix it.
(the Mootguy)

Feedback


http://www.behindthename.com/nm/a3.php says the name Amanda was "Created in the 17th century by the playwright Colley Cibber, who based it on Latin amanda meaning "lovable"."
x-foo-@-fire.com
______________________________________________________________

H'm, my Latin is pretty basic, but as far as I know, the gerundive is not a case but a grammatical form: future passive participle. And by itself "amanda" (feminine gerundive of "amare," to love) literally means simply "is about to be loved." But in an extended sense it does mean what the question said: "she who is worthy of love."

If the gerundive is used with the verb to be, the result has the sense of obligatory action. So "amanda est" would mean not simply "she is about to be loved," but "she must be loved." Without the "est," however, I don't think it necessarily means "she who must be loved."
x-psurajit-@-netscape.net
______________________________________________________________

Copyright 1998-2008 Blair Arts Ltd. All rights reserved.