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Translating dates of the year to Latin

By anth, in 'Latin Numbers and Dates', Apr 15, 2008.

    anth New Member

    hello everyone, sorry to be a pain but is there anyway of translating or converting a date to a latin style?

    the date in question would be the 14th july 2007

    many thanks
    anth, Apr 15, 2008
    #1
    • Civis Illustris

    QMF Civis Illustris

    There is a wonderful summary of the Roman date system in a quote that I have found by someone who used to post here quite frequently named Andy:
    I hope this helps. It gives most of the pertinent information that you might use to calculate dates, albeit some of the references (e.g. what each month is in Latin) is not actually there. July is Quintilis, making its Nones the 7th and hence its Ides the 15th. That makes July 14th:
    pridie Id. Quint.
    Adding in the year in question makes it:
    pridie Id. Quint. MMDCCLX a.u.c.

    Some of this data may not be quite correct (Andy's rulings on what months correspond to what Nones dates doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense), so wait for someone to check this.
    QMF, Apr 15, 2008
    #2
    • Consularis

    Iynx Consularis

    "In March, July, October, May,
    The Ides are on the fifteenth day,
    The Nones the seventh; all besides
    Have two days sooner Nones and Ides".

    "To obtain the year AD,
    Subtract 753;
    But for a year before Our Lord,
    Reckon 754".

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I think that "Jul" would be more conventional than "Quint" for a post-Julian date-- though as I'm not fond of military dictatorships, I'm all for using the older form.
    Iynx, Apr 17, 2008
    #3
    Nikolaos likes this.
    • Praetor

    scrabulista Praetor

    Re: Translating Dates

    <snipped>

    Replace tertio with quarto, and MCMLXX with XXVII to get July 14, 2007. Of course if you like the A.U.C. date then
    QMF's suggestion (or Iynx's) is fine.

    Yeah, I know it's way too late.
    scrabulista, Aug 8, 2010
    #4

    emiloo New Member

    hi there,

    im looking to get a tattoo in memory of my dad who recently passed and i was wondering if anyone can help me to get the dates:
    "24/04/1956"

    or

    "24 april"

    I am in australia so our day comes first and month second :) any suggestion welcome im just looking for something nice.

    thanks
    emiloo, Aug 10, 2012
    #5
    • Civis Illustris

    Imber Ranae Civis Illustris

    That would be ante diem octavum Kalendas Maias anno Domini MCMLVI (abbreviated: a.d. viii Kal. Mai. MCMLVI) according to traditional Roman reckoning, literally "the eighth day before the Kalends [i.e. the 1st] of May in the year of the Lord 1956". It actually means the seventh day before May, but the Romans counted inclusively with May 1st standing for the first day.

    In modern reckoning I suppose it would be die xxiv [mensis] Aprilis...etc. or fully spelled out as die vicesima quarta mensis Aprilis...etc. "the 24th/twenty-fourth day of [the month of] April". You can also omit Domini "of the Lord" if you'd rather avoid any religious connotations.

    That's clear enough when the first number is greater than 12.
    Imber Ranae, Aug 10, 2012
    #6
    Nikolaos likes this.

    emiloo New Member

    thankyou for replying, just curious what is the significance of mensis??
    also do you happen to know what "mentor" would translate to if anything??
    emiloo, Aug 16, 2012
    #7
    • Censor
    • Donor

    Cinefactus Censor

    of the month
    Cinefactus, Aug 16, 2012
    #8
    • Praetor

    scrabulista Praetor

    I do not believe there is any linguistic connection between Mentor and mensis.
    scrabulista, Aug 16, 2012
    #9
    • Technicus Auxiliarius

    Iohannes Aurum Technicus Auxiliarius

    emiloo probably confused mensis with mentis (of which mentor is related to the latter, but definitely not the former)
    Iohannes Aurum, Aug 16, 2012
    #10
    • Civis Illustris

    Imber Ranae Civis Illustris

    I'm not sure that the Greek name Μέντωρ is related to either the Latin word mens (stem ment-) or mensis. It very well could be from the same Indo-European root as the former, but it would need looking into.

    The Latin words mensis "month" and messor "reaper" are related, however, both being derived from a root whose basic meaning was "measure".
    Imber Ranae, Aug 18, 2012
    #11
    • Technicus Auxiliarius

    Iohannes Aurum Technicus Auxiliarius

    Read here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=mentor&searchmode=term regarding the etymology of "mentor."
    Iohannes Aurum, Aug 18, 2012
    #12
    • Civis Illustris

    Imber Ranae Civis Illustris

    Imber Ranae, Aug 19, 2012
    #13
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