5 ms·
It has been a long time since high school Latin, but a better translation might be "glasses for eyes for reading."
by SomeHacker44 8y ago
It 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".