What does “enim et” mean?












7















A couple days ago, a friend sent me an excerpt from a new game, asking about a Latin phrase in it:




Contra Diabolus enim et alii Daemones




(In the game, this is the motto of a group of Catholic monster hunters—so it's meant to be Church Latin, not Classical.)



The translation seems fairly straightforward: "Against the Devil and other Demons". I would have used diabolum in the accusative, but that's a separate matter.



What confused me, though, was the word enim in the middle. I would normally translate enim as "for" or "because". So what's it doing here, right before et? Is it just an error on the translator's part, or is this a usage of enim I'm not familiar with?










share|improve this question























  • Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

    – Hugh
    2 days ago











  • I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago
















7















A couple days ago, a friend sent me an excerpt from a new game, asking about a Latin phrase in it:




Contra Diabolus enim et alii Daemones




(In the game, this is the motto of a group of Catholic monster hunters—so it's meant to be Church Latin, not Classical.)



The translation seems fairly straightforward: "Against the Devil and other Demons". I would have used diabolum in the accusative, but that's a separate matter.



What confused me, though, was the word enim in the middle. I would normally translate enim as "for" or "because". So what's it doing here, right before et? Is it just an error on the translator's part, or is this a usage of enim I'm not familiar with?










share|improve this question























  • Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

    – Hugh
    2 days ago











  • I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago














7












7








7








A couple days ago, a friend sent me an excerpt from a new game, asking about a Latin phrase in it:




Contra Diabolus enim et alii Daemones




(In the game, this is the motto of a group of Catholic monster hunters—so it's meant to be Church Latin, not Classical.)



The translation seems fairly straightforward: "Against the Devil and other Demons". I would have used diabolum in the accusative, but that's a separate matter.



What confused me, though, was the word enim in the middle. I would normally translate enim as "for" or "because". So what's it doing here, right before et? Is it just an error on the translator's part, or is this a usage of enim I'm not familiar with?










share|improve this question














A couple days ago, a friend sent me an excerpt from a new game, asking about a Latin phrase in it:




Contra Diabolus enim et alii Daemones




(In the game, this is the motto of a group of Catholic monster hunters—so it's meant to be Church Latin, not Classical.)



The translation seems fairly straightforward: "Against the Devil and other Demons". I would have used diabolum in the accusative, but that's a separate matter.



What confused me, though, was the word enim in the middle. I would normally translate enim as "for" or "because". So what's it doing here, right before et? Is it just an error on the translator's part, or is this a usage of enim I'm not familiar with?







motto grammar-identification ecclesiastical-latin






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked Apr 8 at 3:31









DraconisDraconis

18.3k22475




18.3k22475













  • Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

    – Hugh
    2 days ago











  • I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago



















  • Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

    – Hugh
    2 days ago











  • I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

    – David Richerby
    2 days ago

















Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

– Hugh
2 days ago





Enim follows its phrase; et precedes. Contra (Diabolum enim) (et alios Daemones)

– Hugh
2 days ago













I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

– David Richerby
2 days ago





I keep seeing this in HNQ and reading it as 'What does "eminem" mean?'

– David Richerby
2 days ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















16














A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali, which I would translate as something like, 'For the Devil and other demons were created by God (to be) good by nature, it's true, but they became, on their own, through their own agency, wicked.'



I suspect that whoever created the phrase for the game knew of this sentence, knew that contra means 'against', but didn't know that it requires a change of case or that enim doesn't really belong unless it's serving a connecting function; therefore, he or she just stuck contra at the beginning instead of changing to contra Diabolum et alios daemones.






share|improve this answer


























  • Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

    – Draconis
    Apr 8 at 4:31











  • @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

    – cnread
    Apr 8 at 4:40





















5














I would indeed expect the accusatives Diabolum and alios together with contra.
But there is a way to make the nominative work; then contra has to be read as an adverb, not a preposition (which would require accusative).
Ignoring the enim, the whole phrase could be read as "in front [of us are] the Devil and other Demons".



To make sense of enim, I think it modifies the entire motto, not just the second part.
It usually comes as the second word, but if the first two words are closely connected, it can come a little later.
This tight connection would make sense for me if contra was used as a preposition, but not so much in the adverbial use.
I find the position a little odd but not completely wrong.



As Lewis and Short write, enim is a corroborative particle.
An apt English counterpart here might be "indeed".
Therefore I would read the whole as:




In front [of us are] indeed the Devil and other Demons




However, this does feel a little odd.
Enim is in a weird place (and not even necessary in my opinion), and the use of contra strikes me as weird too.
The motto may well be a well-composed Latin motto, but it could also be a mistaken attempt at translating "Against the Devil and other Demons".






share|improve this answer


























    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function() {
    var channelOptions = {
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "644"
    };
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
    createEditor();
    });
    }
    else {
    createEditor();
    }
    });

    function createEditor() {
    StackExchange.prepareEditor({
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader: {
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    },
    noCode: true, onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    });


    }
    });














    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function () {
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2flatin.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f9426%2fwhat-does-enim-et-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
    }
    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes








    2 Answers
    2






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    16














    A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali, which I would translate as something like, 'For the Devil and other demons were created by God (to be) good by nature, it's true, but they became, on their own, through their own agency, wicked.'



    I suspect that whoever created the phrase for the game knew of this sentence, knew that contra means 'against', but didn't know that it requires a change of case or that enim doesn't really belong unless it's serving a connecting function; therefore, he or she just stuck contra at the beginning instead of changing to contra Diabolum et alios daemones.






    share|improve this answer


























    • Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

      – Draconis
      Apr 8 at 4:31











    • @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

      – cnread
      Apr 8 at 4:40


















    16














    A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali, which I would translate as something like, 'For the Devil and other demons were created by God (to be) good by nature, it's true, but they became, on their own, through their own agency, wicked.'



    I suspect that whoever created the phrase for the game knew of this sentence, knew that contra means 'against', but didn't know that it requires a change of case or that enim doesn't really belong unless it's serving a connecting function; therefore, he or she just stuck contra at the beginning instead of changing to contra Diabolum et alios daemones.






    share|improve this answer


























    • Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

      – Draconis
      Apr 8 at 4:31











    • @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

      – cnread
      Apr 8 at 4:40
















    16












    16








    16







    A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali, which I would translate as something like, 'For the Devil and other demons were created by God (to be) good by nature, it's true, but they became, on their own, through their own agency, wicked.'



    I suspect that whoever created the phrase for the game knew of this sentence, knew that contra means 'against', but didn't know that it requires a change of case or that enim doesn't really belong unless it's serving a connecting function; therefore, he or she just stuck contra at the beginning instead of changing to contra Diabolum et alios daemones.






    share|improve this answer















    A quick web search shows that the phrase 'Diabolus enim et alii Daemones' (without the contra) appears to originate from the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215). The full sentence is Diabolus enim et alii daemones a Deo quidem natura creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali, which I would translate as something like, 'For the Devil and other demons were created by God (to be) good by nature, it's true, but they became, on their own, through their own agency, wicked.'



    I suspect that whoever created the phrase for the game knew of this sentence, knew that contra means 'against', but didn't know that it requires a change of case or that enim doesn't really belong unless it's serving a connecting function; therefore, he or she just stuck contra at the beginning instead of changing to contra Diabolum et alios daemones.







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited Apr 8 at 4:39

























    answered Apr 8 at 4:25









    cnreadcnread

    9,15211125




    9,15211125













    • Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

      – Draconis
      Apr 8 at 4:31











    • @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

      – cnread
      Apr 8 at 4:40





















    • Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

      – Draconis
      Apr 8 at 4:31











    • @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

      – cnread
      Apr 8 at 4:40



















    Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

    – Draconis
    Apr 8 at 4:31





    Excellent! I think this is the right answer—am I correct in translating that sentence as "for the Devil and other demons, created by God, are indeed good by nature, but their deeds in and of themselves are evil"? I'm never sure when translating Church Latin if I'm missing some crucial nuance.

    – Draconis
    Apr 8 at 4:31













    @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

    – cnread
    Apr 8 at 4:40







    @Draconis, I updated the answer with my attempt at a translation – admittedly, a somewhat heavy-handed one.

    – cnread
    Apr 8 at 4:40













    5














    I would indeed expect the accusatives Diabolum and alios together with contra.
    But there is a way to make the nominative work; then contra has to be read as an adverb, not a preposition (which would require accusative).
    Ignoring the enim, the whole phrase could be read as "in front [of us are] the Devil and other Demons".



    To make sense of enim, I think it modifies the entire motto, not just the second part.
    It usually comes as the second word, but if the first two words are closely connected, it can come a little later.
    This tight connection would make sense for me if contra was used as a preposition, but not so much in the adverbial use.
    I find the position a little odd but not completely wrong.



    As Lewis and Short write, enim is a corroborative particle.
    An apt English counterpart here might be "indeed".
    Therefore I would read the whole as:




    In front [of us are] indeed the Devil and other Demons




    However, this does feel a little odd.
    Enim is in a weird place (and not even necessary in my opinion), and the use of contra strikes me as weird too.
    The motto may well be a well-composed Latin motto, but it could also be a mistaken attempt at translating "Against the Devil and other Demons".






    share|improve this answer






























      5














      I would indeed expect the accusatives Diabolum and alios together with contra.
      But there is a way to make the nominative work; then contra has to be read as an adverb, not a preposition (which would require accusative).
      Ignoring the enim, the whole phrase could be read as "in front [of us are] the Devil and other Demons".



      To make sense of enim, I think it modifies the entire motto, not just the second part.
      It usually comes as the second word, but if the first two words are closely connected, it can come a little later.
      This tight connection would make sense for me if contra was used as a preposition, but not so much in the adverbial use.
      I find the position a little odd but not completely wrong.



      As Lewis and Short write, enim is a corroborative particle.
      An apt English counterpart here might be "indeed".
      Therefore I would read the whole as:




      In front [of us are] indeed the Devil and other Demons




      However, this does feel a little odd.
      Enim is in a weird place (and not even necessary in my opinion), and the use of contra strikes me as weird too.
      The motto may well be a well-composed Latin motto, but it could also be a mistaken attempt at translating "Against the Devil and other Demons".






      share|improve this answer




























        5












        5








        5







        I would indeed expect the accusatives Diabolum and alios together with contra.
        But there is a way to make the nominative work; then contra has to be read as an adverb, not a preposition (which would require accusative).
        Ignoring the enim, the whole phrase could be read as "in front [of us are] the Devil and other Demons".



        To make sense of enim, I think it modifies the entire motto, not just the second part.
        It usually comes as the second word, but if the first two words are closely connected, it can come a little later.
        This tight connection would make sense for me if contra was used as a preposition, but not so much in the adverbial use.
        I find the position a little odd but not completely wrong.



        As Lewis and Short write, enim is a corroborative particle.
        An apt English counterpart here might be "indeed".
        Therefore I would read the whole as:




        In front [of us are] indeed the Devil and other Demons




        However, this does feel a little odd.
        Enim is in a weird place (and not even necessary in my opinion), and the use of contra strikes me as weird too.
        The motto may well be a well-composed Latin motto, but it could also be a mistaken attempt at translating "Against the Devil and other Demons".






        share|improve this answer















        I would indeed expect the accusatives Diabolum and alios together with contra.
        But there is a way to make the nominative work; then contra has to be read as an adverb, not a preposition (which would require accusative).
        Ignoring the enim, the whole phrase could be read as "in front [of us are] the Devil and other Demons".



        To make sense of enim, I think it modifies the entire motto, not just the second part.
        It usually comes as the second word, but if the first two words are closely connected, it can come a little later.
        This tight connection would make sense for me if contra was used as a preposition, but not so much in the adverbial use.
        I find the position a little odd but not completely wrong.



        As Lewis and Short write, enim is a corroborative particle.
        An apt English counterpart here might be "indeed".
        Therefore I would read the whole as:




        In front [of us are] indeed the Devil and other Demons




        However, this does feel a little odd.
        Enim is in a weird place (and not even necessary in my opinion), and the use of contra strikes me as weird too.
        The motto may well be a well-composed Latin motto, but it could also be a mistaken attempt at translating "Against the Devil and other Demons".







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited 2 days ago

























        answered Apr 8 at 4:20









        Joonas IlmavirtaJoonas Ilmavirta

        49.2k1271287




        49.2k1271287






























            draft saved

            draft discarded




















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Latin Language Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid



            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function () {
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2flatin.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f9426%2fwhat-does-enim-et-mean%23new-answer', 'question_page');
            }
            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown







            Popular posts from this blog

            數位音樂下載

            When can things happen in Etherscan, such as the picture below?

            格利澤436b