Titvs Classics delivers the Latin word of the week along with questions to engage with your kids on how the word is used, what it means, and how it influences our English Language today. Sign up for our Newsletter today!
Elucido- I Enlighten
| This week’s word of the week is elucido, -are. It means “I enlighten”. Taken from the opening line of the 95 Theses. English Derivates we get are: elucidate, elucidation, elucubrate, elucubration. The stem word is Lux – Light (luc). Reformation Day is well on it’s way. Our Regional Synod celebrates Reformation on October 24th this year. Before we get started, I feel I need to apologize for my slacking on newsletters lately. As many of you know, Titvs Classics is a little hobby for me. I started it during shut downs and slowness at work, and now work is starting to ramp up again, leaving me little time to write newsletters. But I can not miss out on the excitement of Reformation Day! I have some fun treats for you all below! Reformation Day As most in my audience knows, Reformation Day is a celebration of the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses on the door in Wittenberg. I first learned about this day in AP European History class in the very liberal Public School System. If that doesn’t tell you something about the significance of this day, I don’t know what will. While Titvs Classics is unapologetically Lutheran, our main mission is to teach Latin. So some of you may be wondering what Reformation Day has to do with the Latin Language. History tells us the 95 Theses was nailed to the door, and news of it spread like wildfire. But we also know that Martin Luther didn’t set out to split the Catholic Church. He wanted to have a conversation with other academics and theologians like himself. The 95 Theses that was hammered onto the door in Wittenberg was written in Latin. An unknown person translated it into German and distributed it among the masses. This is during a time when the Bible is only in Latin, and Latin is only the language of the church. Reformation Day Activity Instead of English Derivates, I have a few activities for your students that are more advance in their Latin Learning. Pull out your Latin Dictionary! You will need it! — Here is the full 95 Theses in Latin. Have them pick 5-10 and translate them. How does their translation compare to this one in English. Do they interpret anything differently? do they find a deeper meaning? — For younger kids, have them pull out their “Latin in Church” Coloring book and print out the 95 Theses in Latin (linked above). Give them a highlighter or pen and have them circle or highlight the words from our Latin in Church book that are also used in the 95 theses! — And I would be remiss to not include a coloring page! Check out our FREE Martin Luther Printable! |
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