Adjective (Adjectivum)

The circumflex accent ( ˆ ) is used to denote the length of the vowels.

The adjectives of I-II declension have different nominative forms for every gender: -us or -er for masculine, -a for feminine and -um for neuter. The masculine and neuter forms are declined on the pattern of the II declension and the feminine forms on that of the I declension. The adjectives on -er are of two types: with e vowel belonging to their stem, and with e vowel used to facilitate pronunciation in Nom. & Voc. Sg. masculine. Cf. the declension of:

• bonus, bona, bonum good;
• liber, libera, librum free;
• pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum beautiful.

armiger, armigera, armigerum bearing arms;
signifer, signifera, signiferum bearing standard.

The adjective satur, satura, saturum well-fed, saturated has lost the -us ending in Nom. sg. m.
 
 
Adjectives of III declension

The adjectives of III declension are divided into three groups according to their endings in Nom. sg.:

1. Adjectives of three separate gender forms, like:
    acer, acris, acre sharp.

2. Adjective of one form for masculine and feminine and another for neuter, like:
    gravis, grave heavy.

3. Adjective of one form for all genders, generally ending on –s, like:
    sapiens wise and felix (=felics) lucky.

    The adjectives of III declension are declined on the pattern of the vocal stem, with the ending –em in Acc. sg. instead of -im.
 

Case	Singular			Plural
	m	f	n	m	f	n
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Abl. Voc.	acer  acris acri acrem acri acer	acris acris acri acrem acri acra	acre acris acri acre acri acre	acres acrium acribus acres acribus acres	acres acrium acribus acres acribus acres	acria acrium acribus acria acribus acria
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Abl. Voc.	gravis gravis grave gravem gravi gravis	gravis gravis grave gravem gravi gravis	grave gravis gravi grave gravi grave	graves gravium gravibus graves gravibus graves	graves gravium gravibus graves gravibus graves	gravia gravium gravibus gravia gravibus gravia
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Abl. Voc.	felix  felicis felici felicem felici felix	felix  felicis felici felicem felici felix	felix  felicis felici felix  felici felix	felices felicium felicibus felices felicibus felices	felices felicium felicibus felices felicibus felices	felicia felicium felicibus felicia felicibus felicia

Some adjectives hesitate between the 1^st and the 2^nd group, like terrester, terrestris, terrestre and terrestris, terrestre terrestrial.

Some adjectives of the 3^rd group are declined on the pattern of the consonant stems of the III declension, so for the nom. pl. neutr. of vetus old we have vetera.

Some adjectives of the 3^rd group have also the ending –e for Abl. sg. apart of the ending –i. The form in –e is used like a noun, while the form in –i – like an adjective.
 
 
 
Degrees of Comparison (Gradus comparationis)

The qualitative adjectives are gradable. This means that the person or thing referred to can possess more or less of the quality mentioned. The usual way to indicate the amount of a quality in Latin is by adding specific suffixes to the word’s stem or, sometimes, by external submodifiers.
 
 
Positive degree (Gradus positivus)
 
The positive degree expresses a quality of thing or person for itself, without comparing to a similar quality of other things or persons. It is the basic form of adjective, by which it is presented in the dictionaries, cf.:

longus, longa, longum (longus, 3) long;
liber, -era, -erum free;
sacer, -cra, -crum sacred;
acer, acris, acre sharp;
brevis, -e brief;
clemens, -entis mild, gentle.

There are three patterns of forming the superlative degree:

1. The most common of them is by adding the suffix –issim– to the stem:
 

Positive degree	Stem	Suffix	Superlative degree
			m	f	n
longus, 3  brevis, -e  gravis, -e  clemens  utilis, -e	long-  brev-  grav- clement-  util-	+ –issim–	longissimus brevissimus gravissimus clementissimus utilissimus	longissima brevissima gravissima clementissima utilissima	longissimum brevissimum gravissimum clementissimum utilissimum

 
2. The adjectives terminated by –er form superlative degree by adding the suffix –rim– to the Nom. sg. m.:
 

Positive degree	Suffix	Superlative degree
		m	f	n
liber, -era, -erum  sacer, -cra, -crum  acer, -cris, -cre  niger, -gra, -grum  pulcher, -chra, chrum	+ –rim–	liberrimus sacerrimus acerrimus nigerrimus pulcherrimus	liberrima sacerrima acerrima nigerrima pulcherrima	liberrimum sacerrimum acerrimum nigerrimum pulcherrimum

 
3. Six adjectives of the III declension, ending in Nom. sg. m. by –lis, form superlative by adding the suffix –lim– to the stem:
 

Positive degree	Stem	Suffix	Superlative degree
facilis, -e easy to do difficilis, -e difficult similis, -e like, similar dissimilis, -e unlike gracilis, -e slender, slim humilis, -e low, small	facil-  difficil-  simil-  dissimil-  gracil-  humil-	+ –lim–	facillimus, -a, -um difficillimus, -a, -um simillimus, -a, -um dissimillimus, -a, -um gracillimus, -a, -um humillimus, -a, -um

 
See also Periphrastic degrees.
 
 
Periphrastic degrees
 
The adjectives of I-II declensions, the stem of which ends on a vowel (like idoneus, pius etc.) form comparative and superlative degree by the external modifiers magis more and maxime most:
 

Positive degree	Comparative degree	Superlative degree
arduus, 3 steep, arduous egregius, 3 exceptional idoneus, 3 suitable, fit pius, 3 pious, holy	magis arduus, -a, um  magis egregius, -a, um  magis idoneus, -a, um  magis pius, -a, um	maxime arduus, -a, um  maxime egregius, -a, um  maxime idoneus, -a, um  maxime pius, -a, um

 
 
Particularities

1. The compound adjectives on –dicus, -ficus, -volus form comparative and superlative degrees from an older –ent stem, cf. the examples with:

maledicus, 3 speaking evil of
magnificus, 3 magnificent
benevolus, 3 well-wishing

Four of the above adjectives have positive degrees in plural, that are used as nouns:

superi mpl celestial deities;
inferi mpl infernal deities;
exteri mpl foreigners;
posteri mpl descendants.
 

 

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