The Seven, From the beginning to the end

[Anonymous]

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

I realize this message board isn't really meant for translating, but I would love anyone's help.

I would like to know the latin phrase for:

The Seven. (as in seven people [women])

Also, something like:

From the beginning to the end.

Thank you very much.

 

[Akela]

Seven (women): septimae (I am not fully sure about this one)

From the beginning to the end: ab initio ad finem

 

[Marius Magnus]

It seems that in English the "the" in "the Seven" is not functioning merely as an article, but more of a quasi-demonstrative. It also fixes "seven" as a noun, which is not the usual function of a number word; it calls attention to the word "seven" which would otherwise be de-emphasized in a normal sentence. Even in the phrase "the seven women", "women" is the emphatic word, and "seven" merely a quantifier.

So in that vein, I would suggest "illae septem", which could mean "those seven", or "they, the seven". I'm a long way from having an intuitive understanding of Latin literary style, though, so someone else may have a better suggestion.

But "septimae" would mean "seventh", wouldn't it? Except it wouldn't make sense in the plural, of course.

 

[Iynx]

Septimus, -a, -um (of which septimae is a part) is an "ordinal number"; as MM says it means "seventh".

Septem, an indeclinable adjective, is a "cardinal number"; it means "seven".

Straightforward ways to say "seven women" would be septem feminae or septem mulieres.

For the [numeral] men Latin has often used compounds, as vigintisexviri. But that doesn't help us here.

Can a cardinal be used substantively, as "the Seven"? Sure; consider as proof Acts vi: 2:

Convocantes autem duodecim multitudinem discipulorum dixerunt: non est aequum nos derelinquire verbum Dei, et ministrare mensis.

"But calling together the multititude of the disciples, the Twelve said: it is not right that we should leave the word of God to wait tables".

If Duodecim can mean The Twelve [Apostles] surely Septem can mean The Seven [Women].

 

[QMF]

It'd be easier to figure out what this would be if we had context, because duodecim does in fact fit in that context. But if this were say, a title, simple "Septem" wouldn't fit.