(Essential reference for Psalms and the Synoptic Gospels)
Here is a clean, authoritative glossary of the most important Latin → English false friends you will encounter across the Vulgate and especially the Psalms.
These are words whose meanings have shifted, narrowed, broadened, or distorted in English, often creating theological misunderstandings.
I have made it compact but comprehensive, organised by theme, and suitable for saving as a permanent appendix to the Psalms Study Format.
1. Human Nature, Psychology, Inner Life
1. animus / anima
- Latin: mind, intention / breath, living principle
- English: (animalistic or emotional associations)
→ Often best rendered soul, life, inner self, not “mind vs. body.”
2. cor
- Latin: heart = will, moral core, intention
- English: emotion
→ In Psalms, “heart” means inner centre, not “feelings.”
3. conscientia
- Latin: awareness, joint-knowing
- English: moral conscience
→ English adds guilt; Latin is more neutral.
4. tentatio
- Latin: trial, testing
- English: enticement to sin
→ Central to your translation ethos (No “temptation” in the modern sense).
5. peccatum
- Latin: error, offence, wrong action
- English: sin (heavy moral/religious colouring)
→ Hebrew ḥaṭṭā’ = to miss the mark.
6. malitia
- Latin: badness, ill-will, trouble
- English: maliciousness
→ English meaning is too narrow.
7. spiritus
- Latin: breath, wind, animating force
- English: Holy Spirit (theological entity)
→ Context determines meaning: often “breath” or “living force.”
2. Social, Moral, and Legal Terms
8. justicia / justificare
- Latin: right order / to set something right
- English: justification = declared righteous
→ Latin is restorative, not forensic.
9. misericordia
- Latin: generosity, compassion, covenantal loyalty (ḥesed)
- English: mercy (pity)
→ “Mercy” is often too soft or emotional.
10. ultiones / ultionem
- Latin: retribution, setting right, recompense
- English: violent revenge
→ Psalms often speak of cosmic justice, not vindictiveness.
11. prævaricatio
- Latin: transgression, crookedness, breach of trust
- English: prevarication = evasive speech
→ Pure false friend.
12. vindicare
- Latin: to claim, to free, to protect
- English: vengeance
→ The English word captures only the worst part of the Latin range.
13. timor
- Latin: fear, reverence, awe
- English: fear (panic)
→ “Fear of the Lord” = reverent alignment, not terror.
14. ira / iracundia
- Latin: anger, passion, intensity
- English: wrath (explosive, vindictive)
→ Hebrew concept closer to “moral heat” or “opposition.”
3. Ritual, Worship, Spiritual Language
15. gloria
- Latin: honour, splendour, reputation, radiance
- English: divine glory (theological abstraction)
→ In Psalms: often “radiance” or “presence.”
16. sanctus
- Latin: set apart, dedicated
- English: morally pure, holy
→ The moral colouring is later.
17. sacramentum
- Latin (classical): soldier’s oath
- Christian Latin: sacred rite
→ A dramatic shift in meaning.
18. sacrificium
- Latin: offering, gift
- English: sacrificial death
→ The English carries heavy substitutionary overtones missing in the Latin.
19. salutare / salus
- Latin: deliverance, well-being, safety
- English: salvation (afterlife overtones)
→ Hebrew yēša‘ = rescue, freedom.
20. oratio
- Latin: speech, plea
- English: prayer (religious term)
→ Not always religious in Latin.
4. Everyday Words with Theological Drift
21. verbum
- Latin: word, utterance, message
- English: Word (Logos, divine)
→ Only capitalised in Johannine theology.
22. evangelium
- Latin: good message, news of victory
- English: Gospel (religious book)
→ Focus shifts from message to text.
23. testamentum
- Latin: covenant, agreement
- English: book division (Old/New Testament)
→ The relational meaning is often lost.
5. Words Used Metaphorically in Hebrew but Literally in English
24. caro
- Latin: flesh (human frailty)
- English: flesh (meat, physicality)
→ In Psalms: frailty, humanity.
25. sanguis
- Latin: blood = life, vitality
- English: blood = gore, violence
→ Hebrew dam carries symbolic life-force meaning.
26. caput
- Latin: head = authority, source
- English: head = body part
→ Interpretation differs by context.
6. Miscellaneous but Frequent in the Psalms
27. flagellum
- Latin: scourge, affliction, plague
- English: scourge (physical whipping)
→ Often metaphorical in the Psalms.
28. pestis / pestilentia
- Latin: destruction, calamity
- English: plague (medical)
→ Broader meaning in Latin.
29. humilis / humilitas
- Latin: low, modest, grounded
- English: humble/humility (pious self-abasement)
→ The English gained monastic colouring.
30. exaltare
- Latin: to lift up, elevate
- English: exalt (religious praise)
→ Latin is often physical or metaphorical rather than cultic.