Latin

[dodgymanc]

What is 'Goodnight' in Latin? Also does anyone know of a good free English-Latin translation website? Ive looked all over and I cant find one!

[brawburd]

This is the best I can find - takes a bit of ploughing through, but Latin is such a convulated thing to try n translate into anyway. http://catholic.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookdown.p
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[Quizmonster]

In Latin, 'night' is 'nox' and 'good is 'bonus/bona'. The 'us/a' endings are the masculine and feminine forms respectively. My problem is - after 50-odd years! - that I can't for the life of me remember whether 'nox' is masculine or feminine. The answer to your question, therefore, is 'nox bonus' or 'nox bona'. I suspect it's the second.

[Quizmonster]

It occurs to me that - in modern Italian - 'good night' is 'buonanotte', so that might be a hint that 'night' was a feminine word in Latin, too.

[answerbok]

buenos nochas, that's Spanish isn't it, oh well.

[Quizmonster]

Dear A/B, I'm no expert on Spanish, but I believe 'good night' in that language is 'buenas noches'. The 'a' in 'buenas' would seem to fit in with the feminine gender-point re Italian and Latin I made earlier. So, I'm even more convinced now that it is 'nox bona'. Cheers

[FredPuli]

Nox ( night) in Latin is feminine. Bona nox is too literal. It is simply saying that the night is good. 'Vale' ( pronounced wah-lay) is as good as I can think of at the moment. It is 'farewell', 'goodbye' and would have been used in parting at night. 'Dormies arte/bene' 'may you sleep soundly/well' might do instead but there is sure to have been some more flowery expression too and which I do not have to hand, probably invoking some minor god concerned with the night or sleep. Websites that offer translations are always of doubtful accuracy. I can't think that one attempting English to Latin or vice versa is ever going to be any use. Latin is so complicated compared to English

[answerbok]

good one Fred Puli, soz QM, get away from that nox bona, it sounds kinda crass, sort of well, obnoxious.. got to be more flowery.. [buenas noches] my own amateur choice was noctu-gratia :-)

[Quizmonster]

As Fred himself almost says, there is nothing whatever specifically 'nightish' about 'vale'. You'd have been just as likely to use that word to your wife as you headed off to work in the forum every morning!

Apart from real Roman usage - which probably contained neither 'good' nor 'night' - I imagined the questioner was possibly looking for the kind of thing Frankie Howerd might have said in 'Up Pompeii' ...perhaps for use in a student play. It's hard to imagine what other plans he might have for the phrase. Do tell, Dodgymanc!