laetus

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from *plaetus, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to like, feel friendly/well-disposed”), comparing with the name Plaetōrius. Cognate with Ancient Greek πρᾶος (prâos), Old English frēo (English free).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈlae̯.tus/, [ˈɫ̪äe̯t̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈle.tus/, [ˈlɛːt̪us]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Adjective

laetus (feminine laeta, neuter laetum, comparative laetior, superlative laetissimus, adverb laetē); first/second-declension adjective

1. happy, cheerful, glad

   Laetus sum. ― I (a man) am happy.

   Laeta sum. ― I (a woman) am happy.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	laetus	laeta	laetum		laetī	laetae	laeta
Genitive	laetī	laetae	laetī		laetōrum	laetārum	laetōrum
Dative	laetō		laetō		laetīs
Accusative	laetum	laetam	laetum		laetōs	laetās	laeta
Ablative	laetō	laetā	laetō		laetīs
Vocative	laete	laeta	laetum		laetī	laetae	laeta

Derived terms

• laetificō
• laetitia
• laetō

Descendants

• Old French: lié
  • Norman: liement
• Galician: ledo
• Italian: lieto
• Mozarabic: ليطه
• Portuguese: ledo
• Spanish: ledo

References

• “laetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “laetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• laetus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• laetus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the laughing cornfields: laetae segetes
    
• “laetus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray