English Derivatives: Liberi

by David J.
(Albuquerque, NM, US)

Dear Latin Teacher,

May I please have an English derivative for the following words: liberi (children), meus (mine), noster (ours), tuus (yours)?!

Sincerely,

David

Dear David,

The Latin word for children, liberi, really means free. Perhaps because the children of the familia were not slaves, but free and future citizens of Rome.

English derivatives of liberi include liberty, liberation, and liberal.

The remaining three words you ask about are possessive adjectives, which are much less likely to have derivatives in English than are nouns, adjectives, or verbs.

The Romance languages, such as Italian, French, or Spanish, do derive many of their personal pronouns and possessive adjectives from Latin, however. For example, the Italian "mio/mia" for mine.

So, sorry to disappoint, but I cannot think of English derivatives from the Latin meus, tuus, or noster. Anyone else able to provide one?

Hope this helps, and thanks for asking a Latin teacher.

Sincerely,

John

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