magnus

Magnus, magna, magnum is a first and second declension adjective and about as common as adjectives get. What makes it worth a page is its comparison, which is SUPPLETIVE: the comparative and superlative come from a different root altogether. Magnus gives maior, "greater", and maximus, "greatest". The i of maior is consonantal, so it sounds roughly like "mai-yor" rather than "ma-ee-or". The matching adverbs are magnopere, magis, maxime.

Two case idioms hang off it. The genitive of value, magni, parvi, tanti, is used with verbs of valuing: magni aestimare is "to rate highly". The ablative of price, magno, is used with verbs of buying and selling: magno emere, "to buy dear".

Magna cum laude and summa cum laude preserve the Roman habit of slipping cum between the adjective and its noun. English took magnitude, magnify, magnificent, magnanimous, major, majesty, maximum, and the mayor of a town, who is simply a maior.