Translation
honour, glory; ornament, grace
Examples
.
He was the glory of his homeland.
.
He gave the soldiers great honour.
decore .
He was unwilling to live without honour.
Decora memoramus.
We recount the glories of our fathers.
.
Virtue is a true honour.
Decus, decoris is third declension neuter, so the nominative and accusative are both decus, the ablative is decore and the plural is decora. Being neuter, it never has a masculine ending; decorus, decora, decorum is the separate adjective, "seemly, fitting", the one Horace used in dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
The word sits at the join of two ideas English keeps apart: the honour a person has and the ornament that shows it. A man can be the decus of his city, and so can a temple. Its opposite dedecus, "disgrace", is built the obvious way. Behind both is decet, "it is fitting", which gives English decent, decorate and decorum.
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decus: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "decus" (honour, glory; ornament, grace): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 15.