RobMdza Wrote:I know the Latin language very well and summa means something a little bit different:
From the Latin-Spanish VOX dictionary: summa,ae: main, fullness, main circumstance, pre-eminence, primacy, government.
while magnus, a, um: important, most important, powerful, magnanime.
so yeah. I hate to admit Nexon is just ok.
Ooh, exciting, another Latin person
Special cookie! [On topic] While I agree that Nexon is silly with regard to its understanding of precise Latin semantics...[Slightly off topic] ... I thought i'd add my bit on the exact meaning of summa and magna.
summus, -a, -um: more like "utmost" rather than "main" or "fullness" - would you agree? It is also "highest" in the sense of "the highest mountain" (mons summa) but it seems to me to stem mainly from "utmost" rather than a separate definition of its own. My definition is based on how I often translate classical texts, rather than a dictionary, so it may be less reliable.
NB: I've just noticed you said "summa, -ae" - maybe you looked up the noun by mistake instead of the adjective?
magnus, -a, -um: more like "great," pretty much covered by the OP. I haven't really seen it used as "important" except metaphorically... Definitely it can be applied to metaphorically great - "She was a great lady" (femina magna erat) - but can also be used as literally great, as in larger - "Pompilius built a ship greater than that of Lucius" (Pompilius navem magnam quo Lucii aedificavit)....Would you agree, Rob? It's difficult to really make any solid statements about a dead language of course