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“During the early period of the production of eyeglasses, they were referred to as vitreos ab oculis ad legendum (eyeglasses for eyes for reading)...” Guess th
by rgrieselhuber 8y ago
“During the early period of the production of eyeglasses, they were referred to as vitreos ab oculis ad legendum (eyeglasses for eyes for reading)...”
Guess they wanted to make sure nothing was left to chance.
- SomeHacker44 8y agoIt has been a long time since high school Latin, but a better translation might be "glasses for eyes for reading."
- brownbat 8y agoOr even "thing made of glass for eyes for reading."
- schoen 8y agoWhy "ab oculis" instead of "ad oculos", though?
- mirimir 8y agoLiterally, "without eyes". Without working eyes, anyway.
- schoen 8y agoShouldn't that be "absque oculis" instead in that interpretation?
- mirimir 8y ago> From an earlier orbus ab oculīs ("deprived of eyes"). > (Late Latin) blind https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ab_oculis https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ab_oculis
- bloak 8y agoI don't think that link to "ab oculis" is relevant. I suspect that "ab" just means something like "on, in front of" in this case: "glasses in front of the eyes for reading". If you have time, check this article for the various possible meanings of "ab": http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=ab http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:19... (It's a bit more detailed than wiktionary!)
- robertbaruch 8y agoI love how there are so many Latinists here :)
- mirimir 8y agoHey, Latin was my third language :)
- mirimir 8y agoOK, I dug out my old Cassell's. And I stand corrected. It's "glasses in front of the eyes for reading".
- mirimir 8y agoI'd say "glasses for the blind to read"
- frostburg 8y agoA less wooden English rendition would be "glasses so that eyes can read" or, actually, probably better "glasses so that those without well-working eyes can read".
- greglindahl 8y agoWhen you look at the Latin, do you see a repeated word? We call them "eyeglasses" in English. The Latin word vitreos doesn't have "eye" in it, it's just "glass". It's also the clear stuff in the middle of your eye, but that's a much less common usage than glass.