melior

Interlingua

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /meˈljor/

Adjective

melior

  1. comparative degree of bon: better

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *meljōs, from Proto-Indo-European *mélyōs, from *mel- (strong, big). Cognate with multus, Ancient Greek μάλα (mála), Latvian milns (very much, a lot of). Displaced bonior as the comparative of bonus.[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

melior (comparative, neuter melius); third declension

  1. comparative degree of bonus; better

Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

singular plural
masc./fem. neuter masc./fem. neuter
nominative melior melius meliōrēs meliōra
genitive meliōris meliōrum
dative meliōrī meliōribus
accusative meliōrem melius meliōrēs
meliōrīs
meliōra
ablative meliōre
meliōrī
meliōribus
vocative melior melius meliōrēs meliōra

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Italo-Romance:
    • Italian: migliore
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • Friulian: miôr
    • Romansch: meglier
  • Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Ibero-Romance:

See also

References

  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “melior, -ōris”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 370

Further reading

  • melior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • melior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • melior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to find one's circumstances altered for the better (the worse): meliore (deteriore) condicione esse, uti
    • my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: res meae meliore loco, in meliore causa sunt
    • my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: meliorem in statum redigor
    • to hope well of a person: bene, optime (meliora) sperare de aliquo (Nep. Milt. 1. 1)
    • to induce some one to take a brighter view of things: in meliorem spem, cogitationem aliquem inducere (Off. 2. 15. 53)
    • heaven forfend: di prohibeant, di meliora!
    • (ambiguous) he feels better: melius ei factum est
    • (ambiguous) to deserve well at some one's hands; to do a service to..: bene, praeclare (melius, optime) mereri de aliquo