Latin

Alternative forms

• serm. abbreviation

Noun

sermō m ‎(genitive sermōnis); third declension

1. a conversation, discussion
   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, De brevitate vitae 15

     Horum te mori nemo coget, omnes docebunt; horum nemo annos tuos conteret, suos tibi contribuet; nullius ex his sermo periculosus erit, nullius amicitia capitalis, nullius sumptuosa obseruatio.

     No one of these will force you to die, but all will teach you how to die; no one of these will wear out your years, but each will add his own years to yours; conversations with no one of these will bring you peril, the friendship of none will endanger your life, the courting of none will tax your purse.

2. a rumor, diction, speech, talk, discourse
3. a language, manner of speaking

Inflection

Third declension.

Derived terms

• lupus in sermone

Descendants

References

• sermo in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• sermo in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• SERMO in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “sermo”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • report says; people say: rumor, fama, sermo est or manat
    
  • to be a subject for gossip: in sermonem hominum venire
    
  • pathetic address; emotional language: contentio (opp. sermo) (Off. 2. 48)
    
  • to adopt the language of everyday life: accedere ad cotidiani sermonis genus
    
  • a mistake, solecism: vitium orationis, sermonis or simply vitium
    
  • native tongue; vernacular: sermo patrius (Fin. 1. 2. 4)
    
  • to usage of language: consuetudo sermonis, loquendi
    
  • the ordinary usage of language, everyday speech: cotidiani sermonis usus
    
  • the ordinary usage of language, everyday speech: communis sermonis consuetudo
    
  • the ordinary usage of language, everyday speech: sermo familiaris et cotidianus
    
  • the expression is not in accordance with Latin usage: aliquid a consuetudine sermonis latini abhorret, alienum est
    
  • incorrect usage: consuetudo vitiosa et corrupta (opp. pura et incorrupta) sermonis
    
  • pure, correct Latin: incorrupta latini sermonis integritas (Brut. 35. 132)
    
  • good Latin: sermo latinus (opp. sermo parum latinus) (cf. sect. VII. 2., note For the use of adverbs...)
    
  • to translate from Greek into Latin: aliquid e graeco in latinum (sermonem) convertere, vertere, transferre
    
  • to render something into Latin: aliquid (graeca) latine reddere or sermone latino interpretari
    
  • an old proverb which every one knows: proverbium vetustate or sermone tritum (vid. sect. II. 3, note tritus...)
    
  • to enter into conversation with some one: sermonem conferre, instituere, ordiri cum aliquo
    
  • to enter into conversation with some one: se dare in sermonem cum aliquo
    
  • to turn the conversation on to a certain subject: sermonem inferre de aliqua re
    
  • to talk of a subject which was then the common topic of conversation: in eum sermonem incidere, qui tum fere multis erat in ore
    
  • the conversation turned on..: sermo incidit de aliqua re
    
  • to begin a conversation: in sermonem ingredi
    
  • the conversation began with..: sermo ortus est ab aliqua re
    
  • to turn the conversation to another topic: sermonem alio transferre
    
  • to break off in the middle of the conversation: medium sermonem abrumpere (Verg. Aen. 4. 388)
    
  • to prolong a conversation far into the night: sermonem producere in multam noctem (Rep. 6. 10. 10)
    
  • to converse, talk with a person on a subject: sermonem habere cum aliquo de aliqua re (De Am. 1. 3)
    
  • the conversation began in this way: hinc sermo ductus est
    
  • the conversation began in this way: sermo inductus a tali exordio
    
  • a long conversation: multus sermo
    
  • conversational language: sermo cotidianus, or simply sermo
    
• sermo in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• sermo in William Smith., editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly