Latinists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Scholars who devote their study to the Latin language and its classical literature ; people who are highly skilled at reading, writing and speaking Latin
2. Academics specializing in the Latin tongue and the texts written in it ; individuals with a strong command of the Latin language
3. Experts in classical Latin letters and language ; those who have mastered Latin in reading and composition

Etymology: "Latinists" is the plural of "Latinist," a noun for a scholar of Latin. The base word "Latin" is the language of ancient Rome, and the suffix "-ist" marks a person who practises or specialises in something. Put together, a Latinist is someone who studies or works in that language, and the plural simply names a group of them. The suffix does most of the work here. "-ist" attaches to a noun to label a practitioner, so a "chemist" practises chemistry and a "novelist" writes novels. The same pattern gives English a steady supply of words for specialists, and "Latinist" follows it directly, applying the label to scholars of one particular classical language.

Synonyms: classicist