Oct 22, 2007 15:28
16 yrs ago
Latin term
fluency in engineering
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, Latin to English, German Middle High (ca.1050-1500) to English, and 2 more.
maius circulus
Latin to English
Art/Literary
Engineering (general)
Aristotelian mechanics
This appears in an encyclopedia article on the Aristotelian tradition in the Natural Science of Mechanics. The quote actually originates in Frederick II's 'de arte venandi', and is in a section on the Medieval (non) tradition of Aristotelian physics.
quod dicit Aristoteles in libro de ingeniis levandi pondera dicens quod magis facit levari pondus *maius circulus*.
Which Aristotles said in the Book of Genius, saying about lifting weights, that the weight being lifted makes rather *a larger circle*.
This goes back to the dynamic theory of the lever, in which both the lever arm and the weight lifted inscribe circular arcs in their movement (as opposed to straight lines), and the arcs can be measured, etc.
The problem is the cases of the various nouns, pondus and circulus in particular. circulus is masc,nom, and pondus is neut, nom/acc; however, the weight makes the circle, the circle doesn't make the weight.
Could Fred II simply have been really bad at Latin, such that he made a real error? Could the manuscript abbreviations have been incorrectly expanded?
I know the dynamics involved, so I know what the translation has to be, but the Latin is not supporting the author's argument.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
quod dicit Aristoteles in libro de ingeniis levandi pondera dicens quod magis facit levari pondus *maius circulus*.
Which Aristotles said in the Book of Genius, saying about lifting weights, that the weight being lifted makes rather *a larger circle*.
This goes back to the dynamic theory of the lever, in which both the lever arm and the weight lifted inscribe circular arcs in their movement (as opposed to straight lines), and the arcs can be measured, etc.
The problem is the cases of the various nouns, pondus and circulus in particular. circulus is masc,nom, and pondus is neut, nom/acc; however, the weight makes the circle, the circle doesn't make the weight.
Could Fred II simply have been really bad at Latin, such that he made a real error? Could the manuscript abbreviations have been incorrectly expanded?
I know the dynamics involved, so I know what the translation has to be, but the Latin is not supporting the author's argument.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | levari pondus maior circulus |
Beatriz Galiano (X)
|
| 3 | greater circle |
Joseph Brazauskas
|
Proposed translations
4 hrs
Selected
levari pondus maior circulus
I guess maior is the only mistake there is, as far as I know, but I have no access to Jstor, maybe you do.
Lifts weight in a greater circle.
JSTOR: The Liber de motu of Gerard of Brussels and the Origins of ...- [ Traduzca esta página ]... sublevari aut impelli et deportari, quod dicit Aristoteles in libro de ingeniis levandi pondera dicens quod magis facit levari pondus maior circulus. ...
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0369-7827(1956)1%3A12%3C73%3ATLDMOG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7 - Páginas similares
pondero -are [to weigh , consider, ponder].
ponderosus -a -um [heavy , weighty; significant].
pondo (abl.) [in weight]; as indecl. subst. [a pound , pounds].
pondus -eris n. [weight; a weight , burden, mass; balance; authority, influence].
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a *us 1 masc sing nom
n *us : masc. acc. pl. 4
n *us : masc. nom. sing. 2
n *us : neut. acc. sing. 3
n *us : masc. nom. pl. 4
n *us : neut. nom. sing. 3
n *us : masc. nom. sing. 4
n *us : neut. gen. sing. 4
n *us : masc. gen. sing. 4
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Stem (or dictionary form): Ending (optional):
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Lifts weight in a greater circle.
JSTOR: The Liber de motu of Gerard of Brussels and the Origins of ...- [ Traduzca esta página ]... sublevari aut impelli et deportari, quod dicit Aristoteles in libro de ingeniis levandi pondera dicens quod magis facit levari pondus maior circulus. ...
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0369-7827(1956)1%3A12%3C73%3ATLDMOG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7 - Páginas similares
pondero -are [to weigh , consider, ponder].
ponderosus -a -um [heavy , weighty; significant].
pondo (abl.) [in weight]; as indecl. subst. [a pound , pounds].
pondus -eris n. [weight; a weight , burden, mass; balance; authority, influence].
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a *us 1 masc sing nom
n *us : masc. acc. pl. 4
n *us : masc. nom. sing. 2
n *us : neut. acc. sing. 3
n *us : masc. nom. pl. 4
n *us : neut. nom. sing. 3
n *us : masc. nom. sing. 4
n *us : neut. gen. sing. 4
n *us : masc. gen. sing. 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stem (or dictionary form): Ending (optional):
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for the reference and confirmation of the translation."
19 mins
Joseph Brazauskas
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
When You Want It Done Right
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
, Spanish (Variant: Standard-Spain)
Works in: Latin to English, English to Latin, Greek (Ancient) to English, and 23 more.
greater circle
Unless 'maius' is to be taken with 'pondus', which does not seem likely, it is probably a typographical error for 'maior'. In any case, Aristotle wrote no such work; Frederick is most probably referring to a work by Archimedes or Aristarchus.
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