242. Derivative Adjectives, which often become nouns, are either Nominal (from nouns or adjectives) or Verbal (as from roots or verb stems).

Nominal Adjectives

243. Diminutive Adjectives are usually confined to one gender, that of the primitive, and are used as Diminutive Nouns.

They are formed by means of the suffixes -ulus (-a, -um), -olus (after a vowel), -culus, -ellus, -illus

Note 1— These diminutive endings are all formed by adding -lus to various stems. The formation is the same as that of -ulus in § 251 (below). But these words became settled as diminutives, and retained their connection with nouns. So in English the diminutives whitish, reddish, bookish and snappish. -culus -lus added to adjectives in -cus formed from stems in n- and s-:

iuven-cus
Aurun-cus (cf. Aurunculêius)
prīs-cus

whence the -cu- becomes a part of the termination, and the whole ending (-culus) is used elsewhere, but mostly with n- and s- stems, in accordance with its origin.

Note 2— Diminutives are often used to express affection, pity, or contempt.

dēliciolae  little pet
muliercula  a poor (weak) woman
Graeculus  a miserable Greek

a. -ciō, added to stems in n-, has the same diminutive force, but is used with masculines only.

homun-ciō  a dwarf (from homō a man)

244. Patronymics, indicating descent or relationship, are formed by adding the suffixes -adēs,-idēs, -īdēs, -eus [m.], -ās, -is, -ēis [f.], to proper names

These words, originally Greek adjectives, have almost all become nouns in Latin.

Atlās: Atlanti-adēs  Mercury;
Atlant-idĕs (Greek plural)  the Pleiads

Scīpiō: Scīpi-adēs  son of Scipio

Tyndareus: Tyndar-idēs  Castor or Pollux, son of Tyndarus
Tyndar-is  Helen, daughter of Tyndarus

Anchīsēs: Anchīsi-adēs  Æneas, son of Anchises

Thēseus: Thēs-īdēs  son of Theseus

Tȳdeus: Tȳd-īdēs  Diomedes, son of Tydeus

Oīleus: Âiāx Oīl-eus  son of Oileus

Cisseus: Cissē-is  Hecuba, daughter of Cisseus

Thaumās: Thaumant-iās  Iris, daughter of Thaumas

Hesperus: Hesper-ides (from Hesper-is, -idis), pl.
the daughters of Hesperus, the Hesperides

245. Adjectives meaning full of, prone to , are formed from noun stems with the suffixes -ōsus, -lēns, lentus

246. Adjectives meaning provided with are formed from nouns by means of the regular participial endings -tus, -ātus, -ītus, ūtus

Note— -ātus, -ītus, -ūtus, imply reference to an imaginary verb stem; -tus is added directly to nouns without any such reference.

247. Adjectives of various meanings, but signifying in general made of or belonging to, are formed from nouns by means of the suffixes -eus, -ius,
-āceus, -īcius, āneus (-neus), -ticus

Note— -ius is originally primitive (§ 234.2.11); -eus corresponds to Greek -ειος, -εος, and has lost a y sound (cf. yo-, § 234.2.11); -īcius and -āceus are formed by adding -ius and -eus to stems in ī-c-, ā-c- (suffix ko-, § 234.2.12); -neus is no- + -eus (§ 234.2.4); -āneus is formed by adding -neus to ā- stems; -ticus is a formation with
-cus (cf. hosti-cus with silvā-ticus), and has been affected by the analogy of participial stems in to- (Nominative -tus).

248. Adjectives denoting pertaining to are formed from noun stems with the suffixes ālis, āris, ēlis, īlis, ūlis

Note— The suffixes arise from adding -lis (stem li-) to various vowel stems. The long vowels are due partly to confusion between stem and suffix (cf. vītā-lis, from vītā-, with rēg-ālis), partly to confusion with verb stems.

Aprīlis (aperīre)
edūlis (edere)
senīlis (senex)

-ris is an inherited suffix, but in most of these formations -āris arises by differentiation for -ālis in words containing an l (as mīlit-āris).

249. Adjectives with the sense of belonging to are formed by means of the suffixes -ānus, -ēnus, -īnus; -ās, -ēnsis; -cus, -acus (-ācus), -icus;
-eus, -êius, -icius

1. So from common nouns:

2. But especially from proper nouns to denote belonging to or coming from :

a. Many derivative adjectives with these endings have by usage become nouns.

Note— Of these terminations, -ānus, -ēnus, -īnus are compounded from -nus added to a stem-vowel.

arca, arcānus
collis, collīnus

The long vowels come from a confusion with verb stems (as in plē-nus, fīnī-tus, tribū-tus), and from the noun stem in ā-.

arcānus

A few nouns occur of similar formation, as if from verb stems in ō- and ū-.

colōnus (colō, cf. incola)
patrōnus (cf. patrō, -āre)
tribūnus (cf. tribuō, tribus)
Portūnus (cf. portus)
Vacūna (cf. vacō, vacuus)

250. Other adjectives meaning in a general way belonging to (especially of places and times ) are formed with the suffixes -ter (-tris), -ester
(-estris), -timus, -nus, -ernus, -urnus, ternus (-turnus)

Note— Of these, -ester is formed by adding tri- (cf. tro-, § 234.2.16) to stems in t- or d-. Thus †pedet-tri- becomes pedestri-, and others follow the analogy. -nus is an inherited suffix (§ 234.2.4). -ernus and -urnus are formed by adding -nus to s- stems:

diur-nus (for †dius-nus)

and hence, by analogy

hodiernus (hodiē)

By an extension of the same principle were formed the suffixes -ternus and -turnus from words like paternus and nocturnus.

a. Adjectives meaning belonging to are formed from nouns by means of the suffixes ārius, -tōrius (sōrius)

Note 1— Here -ius (§ 234.2.11) is added to shorter forms in -āris and -or

pecūliārius (from pecūliāris)
bellātōrius (from bellātor).

Note 2— These adjectives are often fixed as nouns (see § 254).

Verbal Adjectives

251. Adjectives expressing the action of the verb as a quality or tendency are formed from real or apparent verb stems with the suffixes āx, idus, ulus, vus (uus, īvus, tīvus). -āx denotes a faulty or aggressive tendency;
-tīvus is oftener passive.

Note— Of these, -āx is a reduction of -ācus (stem vowel ā- + -cus), become independent and used with verb stems. Similar forms in -ĕx, -ōx, -īx, and -ūx are found or employed in derivatives.

imbrex  a rain-tile [m.] (from imber)
senex  old (from seni-s)
ferōx  fierce (ferus)
atrōx  savage (āter  black)
celōx  a yacht [f.] (cf. cellō)
fēlīx  happy, originally fertile (cf. fēlō  suck)
fīdūcia confidence (as from †fīdūx)

cf. also victrīx (from victor). So mandūcus chewing (from mandō).

-idus is no doubt denominative.

herbidus  grassy (from herba  herb)
tumidus  swollen (cf. tumu-lus  hill; tumul-tus  uproar)
callidus  tough, cunning (cf. callum  tough flesh)
mūcidus  slimy (cf. mūcus  slime)
tābidus  wasting (cf. tābēs  wasting disease)

But later it was used to form adjectives directly from verb stems.

-ulus is the same suffix as in diminutives, but attached to verb stems.

Cf. aemulus  rivaling (cf. imitor and imāgō)

sēdulus  sitting by, attentive (cf. domi-seda  homestaying, and sēdō  set, settle, hence calm)

pendulus  hanging (cf. pondō, ablative, in weight; perpendiculum,  a plummet; appendix  an addition)

strāgulus  covering (cf. strāgēs)

legulus  a picker (cf. sacri-legus  a picker up of things sacred)

-vus seems originally primary (cf. § 234.2.8), but -īvus and -tīvus have become secondary and are used with nouns.

aestīvus  of summer (from aestus  heat)
tempestīvus  timely (from tempus)

cf. domes-ticus (from domus).

252. Adjectives expressing passive qualities, but occasionally active, are formed by means of the suffixes -ilis, -bilis, -ius, -tilis (-silis)

253. Verbal Adjectives that are Participial in meaning are formed with the suffixes -ndus, -bundus, -cundus

a. -ndus (the same as the Gerundive ending) forms a few active or reflexive adjectives.

b. -bundus, -cundus, denote a continuance of the act or quality expressed by the verb.

Note— These must have been originally nominal, as seen in the following.

rubus  red bush
rubidus (but no †rubicus)  ruddy
Rubicōn  Red River (cf. Miniō, a river of Etruria; Minius, a river of Lusitania)
rubicundus (as in averruncus, homun-culus).

So turba  commotion, turbō a top, turbidus  roily, etc. Cf. apexabō, longabō, gravēdō, dulcēdō.

c. Here belong also the participial suffixes -minus, -mnus (cf. Greek -μενος), from which are formed a few nouns in which the participial force is still discernible.²

Footnotes