Latin First Declension Nouns

Basic paradigm

Irregularities

First declension nouns of Greek origin have a mix of Greek first declension and Latin first and and fifth declension inflections. (In short, they get hopelessly slaughtered. Some examples appear below.)

Some first declension nouns

1. feminine nouns
• barba, -ae. nf., beard.
• betula, -ae. nf., birch tree.
• braccae, -arum. nf. pl., pants, trousers, breetches.
• bruma, -ae. nf., winter, winter solstice.
• clepsydra, -ae. nf., water clock.
• casa, -ae. nf., cottage, hut. pl. barracks.
• causa, -ae. nf., cause, reason.
• dea, -ae. nf., goddess.
• fama, -ae. nf., report.
• femina, -ae. nf., woman.
• fenestra, -ae. nf., window.
• filia, -ae. nf., daughter.
• formula, -ae. nf., nice shape, beauty, (math.) formula, equation, identity.
• fortuna, -ae. nf., fortune, luck.
• fossa, -ae. nf., ditch.
• fuga, -ae. nf., flight.
• gloria, -ae. nf., fame, glory.
• hora, -ae. nf., hour.
• ira, -ae. nf., anger, wrath.
• lingua, -ae. nf., tongue, language.
• matella, -ae. nf., chamber pot.
• poena, -ae. nf., punishment.
• puella, -ae. nf., girl.
• spelunca, -ae. nf., cave.
• tuba, -ae. nf., trumpet.
2. feminine abstract nouns ending in -ia
• amicitia, -ae. nf., friendship. (from amicus, -a, -um. adj. friendly.)
• audacia, -ae. nf., boldness. (from auda, audacis. adj. bold.)
• elegantia, -ae. nf., elegance, refinement. (from elegans, -antis. adj. elegant, refined.)
• copia, -ae. nf., supply. (from cops, copis. adj. bold.)
• gratia, -ae. nf., favor. (from gratus, -a, -um. adj. pleasant, agreeable, thankful.)
• iniuria, -ae. nf., wrong, injustice. (from iniurus, -a, -um. adj. wrong, unjust.)
• inopia, -ae. nf., lack. (from inops, inopis. adj. poor, destitute.)
• prudentia, -ae. nf., discretion. (from prudens, prudentis. adj. aware, experienced, discreet.)
• scientia, -ae. nf., knowledge. (from sciens, scientis. participial adj., aware, cognizant.)
3. feminine abstract nouns denoting fields of study
• alchimia, -ae. nf., alchemy.  (Practitioner: alchemista, -ae. nm., alchemist.) [Medieval? From Greek via Arabic?]
• chemia, -ae. nf., chemistry. (Practioner: peritus chemiae, periti chemiae, [or chemista, -ae?]. nm., chemist.)
• mathematica, -ae. nf., mathematics. (Practitioner: mathematicus, -i. nm., mathematician.)
• medicina, -ae. nf., medicine. (Related to medicus, -i. nm., doctor, physician.) medicinam exercêre. to practice medicine.
• physicae, -arum. nf. pl., physics. (Related to physicus, -i. nm., physicist.)
4. Greek scientific and mathematical vocabulary

Those in this list are common enough typically to appear with standard Latin inflections. The Greek accusative ending -an will sometimes be used in place of Latin -am.

• theoria, -ae. nf., (sci.) theory.
5. masculine nouns
• agricola, -ae. nm., farmer.
• incola, -ae. nm., inhabitant.
• nauta, -ae. nm., sailor.
• pirata, -ae. nm., pirate.
• poeta, -ae. nm., poet.

more first declension masculine nouns
 

6. Greek first declension nouns

As mentioned before, these are a mess. This class includes proper Greek names and Greek loan words.

	Aeneas	Anchises	Aphrodite	Athens
Case	m. sing.	m. sing.	f. sing.	f. pl.
Nominative	Aene-as	Anchises	Aphrodite	Athenae
Genitive	-ae	-ae	-es	-arum;
Dative	-ae	-ae	-ae	-is
Accusative	-an, -am	-en, -am	-en	-as
Ablative	-a	-a, -e	-e	-is
Locative	(-ae)	(-ae)	(-e)	-is

 

Proper Nouns
• Aeneas, -ae. nm. Aeneas.
• Anchises, -ae. nm. Anchises.
• Aphrodite, -es. nf. Aphrodite.
• Athenae, -arum. nf. pl. Athens.
• Circe, -es. nf. Circe.
• Penelope, -es. nf. Penelope.
Greek Loan Words
• cerastes, -ae. nm. horned snake.
• dioecetes, -ae. nm. revenue official, treasurer.
• geometres, -ae. nm. geometer, mathematician.
• xiphias, -ae. nm. swordfish.