Latin Translation

[Lovely_Lauz]

Anyone know what the Latin is for 'Reach for the stars'???

[Lie-in King]

"Per ardua ad astra" is "Through difficulties to the stars" - I'm sure a real Latin scholar will give you a better answer though...

[dundurn]

A line in The Aeneid 'sic itur ad astra' is translated as 'thus reach for the stars' - so 'itur ad astra' would seem to fit the bill, but my last formal Latin was at Denny High School in 1962 (motto 'summa peto' - 'I seek but the highest') so if you're thinking of a tattoo I'd wait for a better class of answer!

[Quizmonster]

"Porrige ad astra" - or 'porrigite' in the plural - is a possibility, though it looks as if you're talking about a Scottish breakfast cereal! The Latin verb, 'porrigere' means to stretch out or extend yourself...ie to reach towards.

My last forrmal Latin lesson happened even longer ago than Dundurn's, but I'd translate his as "Journey towards the stars", which doesn't seem to have the self-extension element in 'reach for'.

My advice to you - based on past experience of questions involving Latin on AnswerBank - is to check with an 'expert' whatever answer(s) you get here...including mine! For example, if your local secondary school has a Classics Department or even just a solitary Latin teacher, try to get a response from him/her. An alternative is to approach a local Catholic priest.
If someone suggests an online translation site, I'd treat that with even more care than answers here. They are generally much too vague or even ridiculous, unless you are quite knowledgeable about the language in any case.
For example, the normal translation of �from the beginning' into Latin is �ab initio'. However, putting that English phrase into one translation site got the answer �ex exordium'. Now, that does mean �from the beginning' but only in specific circumstances. �Exordium' means �beginning' but only in the sense of �introduction' as in the first part of an essay or discussion. So, �ex exordium' means �from the opening section', in effect. That is very, very rarely what we mean when we say �from the beginning'.

Good luck!

[jno]

you could just say ad astra - it just means 'to the stars' - a bit like Buzz Lightyear, 'to infinity and beyond' - without saying 'reach for' if the context makes it clear

[sabsmako]

Here are two ways to translate this phrase:

adipisci ad stellas = to reach/attain to/toward the stars. (indicative)

adipiscere ad stellas = (you - singular) reach to/toward the stars ! (imperative)

I like this verb (adipiscor) which is to attain/obtain/reach for rather than a verb that means to physically reach for something
The noun (stella) for star is better that sideris which can also mean constellation.
The preposition (ad) means to or toward