Magistra G.'s Latin Wiki

Latin in Harry Potter

If there is any book that uses Latin the most, it is Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. Here are numerous examples that we have found in these books:

Characters NAMES:
Minerva McGonagall- Minerva (Athena) is the goddess of wisdom. Also, Athena is the goddess who turned a girl (Arachne, see Latin Alive Today) into a spider. Minerva McGonagall is the professor of transfiguration.
Draco Malfoy- Draco= dragon. Draconian, fits his character. Draco was also the name of a lawgiver in Athens or something like that. Malfoy from French "Mal foi" from Latin "Mala fides" = bad faith.

Argus Filch- Argus had a thousand eyes. Everyone compains that Filch always sees everything that happens
Severus Snape- Severus=strict/harsh in Latin. Fits his character nicely as a teacher of Harry.

Dolores Umbridge- Dolores=pain. She caused Harry a lot of pain in various detention-like settings. Umbra=shadow. Very mysterious indeed.

Ludo Bagman- Ludo=to play in Latin. He was the Minister of Games or something in the 4th book. (As in the Quidditch world Cup).

Rubeus Hagrid-Rubeus=of the bramble. This describes his hair and overall appearance, no offense.

Narcissa Malfoy- Narcissus was so engulfed when he viewed his reflection. Narcissa thinks she is the most beautiful person in HP.
Hermione Granger- Hermione was the daughter of Helen of Troy, the beauty that caused all that trouble in the Trojan War. Hermione (daughter of Helen) was loved by Orestes and Neoptolemus (see Families page). Sounds sort of like Ron Weasley and Viktor Krum.
Albus Dumbledore- Albus= white in Latin, they always say Dumbledore has a white beared. This could also mean he is not a dark, evil wizard.
Filius Flitwick-Filius=son

Tenebrus-Tenebrosus=dark (Tenebrus is the name of a thestral).

Lord Voldemort-Volo=either wish or fly; de= from; Mort=death. One who flies from death (literally translated as "Volat de morte").

Cordelia Misericordia-Misericordia=misery. Cordelia was a hag representative at the fourteenth century summit of Wizard's Council. Insignificant character.

Hogwarts Motto: "Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus" Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

Places:
Knockturn Alley= Nocturn Alley= night alley. Knockturn Alley is a very spooky place.

Spells:
Expelliarmus- expelle= expel; arma= weapons
Finite Incantatem- finite= end; incantatem= charm
Lumos- lumen=light, daylight
Nox- Night, darkness (no light)
Mobiliarbus- mobilis= movable; arbor= tree
Mobilicorpus- molibilis= movable; corpus= body
Exspecto Patronum- exspecto= I await; patronum= protector
Densaugeo- dens= tooth; auego= I increase
Levicorpus- levi=lift; corpus=body
Liberacorpus- liber=free; corpus= body

Evanesco-=to vanish, disappear, or pass away.

Protego-=to protect, cover, or conceal
Sonorus-sonor=sound

Wingardium Leviosa-levi=lift; (Though it is not Latin:) Wing= an object used by birds and other creatures to obtain flight.

Rictusempra-rictu=open mouth, jaws; sempra=semper=always. This is the Tickling Charm which keeps people laughing, hence the always-open-mouthpart.

Serpensortia-serpens=snake, serpent

Apericium-aperio=open, discover, show, explain

Portus-Portus=gate/door. The spell to make a portkey.
Stupefy- To stun or make stupid
Petrificus Totalus- Petrificus=to petrify or freeze in one position and totalus= entire body

Feel free to add any spells, names, etc. that you see while reading HP

Want to take a quiz on how things are related to latin in hp? It's incredibly easy, but still a fun thing to take.

Home

joeshmow	Latest page update: made by joeshmow , Jan 19 2008, 4:14 PM EST (about this update About This Update home link - joeshmow 1 word added 21 words deleted view changes - complete history)
	Keyword tags: book Harry Potter More Info: links to this page

Threads for this page

RayneNicoleDail

Misericordia...

Feb 8 2012, 5:56 AM EST by LucyJohnsonMcDowall

Thread started: Apr 29 2011, 6:49 PM EDT Watch

Misericordia actually means "misery of the heart" and not simply "misery."
In my Latin 2 honors class, we watched a video on youtube that explained all the Harry Potter, Latin- derived, spells and charms and it was, actually, quite entertaining.
Also, stupefy does not mean to make someone 'stupid.' It comes from the latin root word of 'stupefacere,' which is the second principle part of the word 'stupefacio,' and it means 'to benumb' or 'stun.' Hence why the characters become immobile once hit with the spell.
"tilliandus" can mean one of two things: tickle, or provoke. Both are good for the translation and have the same basic concept.
I'm not trying to sound condescending or offensive, I just thought this was interesting.

2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?

Keyword tags:

Post reply

Show Last Reply

ronbarak

Lord Voldemort

Apr 30 2011, 5:49 PM EDT by RayneNicoleDail

Thread started: Apr 29 2011, 11:22 AM EDT Watch

I have a problem with:
Lord Voldemort-Volo=either wish or fly; de= from; Mort=death. One who flies from death (literally translated as "Volat de morte").
First of all, death is mors and not mort, and shouldn't "de" be followed with the ablativus?

0 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you?

Keyword tags: