No more noble deed

Ave Latin Scholars,

I have come to ask for your help. I'm a paramedic in Calgary, and we're designing an award coin for paramedics who have attended a cardiac arrest and successfully resuscitated the patient. We are considering a latin phrase on the coin. The phrase "No more noble deed" is a condensed version of "There is no more noble deed than to save a life". My high school latin is 35 years behind me and has failed me. I can't recall ever learning about comparative forms for adjectives. I had considered the adjective decorus for noble / honorable, but would defer to your more learned suggestions. I'm pretty sure factum is right for deed, but I could be wrong. As to the comparative form of decorus, would it be decorius? because factum is neutral gender? Here I am at a loss... And because I took latin these many years ago, I care a great deal that it be correct.

Thanks in advance.
 

syntaxianus

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Massachusetts, USA
Perhaps a positive formulation:

opera quam nobilissima

= a work/service as noble as possible

or if you like the negative:

nihil praestantius

= nothing superior.

or

nil praestantius hôc

= nothing better / more excellent than this.
 

Bradicus

New Member

“There is no more noble deed than to save a life.”
or
“Nothing is more noble than to save a life.”

· NIHIL NOBILIUS QUAM VITAM SERVARE ·

· NIHIL NOBILIUS QUAM ANIMAM CONSERVARE ·

· NIHIL PRAECLARIUS QUAM VITAM SERVARE ·

· NIHIL MAGNIFICIUS QUAM ANIMAM CONSERVARE ·

As a kind of heraldic motto, something concise, balanced, and with some terms recognizable to non-Latin reader. Est is in ellipsis. Quam is frequently used in mottos for balance (I have an 18th cent. piece with a nice heraldic crest and motto “esse quam videri”). Given the basic form, I’ve provided some options in word-choice. Servare and conservare are nearly identical in meaning, though conservare is a bit more emphatic, the idea of preserving live, beyond just saving life; vitam vs animam, “a life” vs “a soul” (in a sense like “souls on board”). While praeclarius (n. comp. adj.) probably comes closest to your intended meaning, nobilius is close enough and easily recognized; magnificius more exuberant; perhaps others, cf. decorus, honestus, illustris, splendidus, egregius. Two other considerations are 1) what fits best on the coin design, 2) the euphony - what sounds best when read aloud.
 
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