# What is the Latin translation for "Light of God"?



## bipster

What is the Latin translation for "Light of God"? I checked some online translators and I get different results:

- Lux Dei
- Deus lux

Which is the correct one?

Thanks in advance


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## Scholiast

Greetings all.

_Lux Dei _is literally correct. But _Deus lux_, which could be construed as 'God [is my] light' is not wholly wrong either. The motto of my _alma mater_, Oxford University (quoting from the Vulgate Ps. 27), is _Dominus illuminatio mea_.

Σ


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## bipster

Thanks!


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## francisgranada

What about_ Lumen Dei_?

(_lumen _seems to me a bit more abstract or less "technical"  than _lux_, but I am not sure ....)


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## Agró

francisgranada said:


> What about_ Lumen Dei_?
> 
> (_lumen _seems to me a bit more abstract or less "technical"  than _lux_, but I am not sure ....)


Answer #2, here
What is the difference between "lux" and "lumen"?
is quite _enlightening_.


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## bipster

Thanks!


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## bearded

francisgranada said:


> What about_ Lumen Dei_?


  
I had exactly the same thought!


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## Penyafort

The Biblical examples of _lux mundi _and _fiat lux_ are quite enlightening indeed.

I'd also add that in many Romance languages, such as Italian or the West Iberian languages (Spanish, Asturian, Portuguese), the distinction between _lux _for (day)light and _lumen _for light from a fire/lamp is still somehow there. (However, in Catalan and Occitan it turned out to be the other way round)


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## bearded

Penyafort said:


> in many Romance languages, such as Italian..


Well, but in Italian 'lume' is/has been often used metaphorically - as a ''high source of light''. Cf. (from Treccani Dictionary):


> _l’alto lume_ (Dante), Dio; _E ’l canto di que’ lumi_ (Dante), di quegli spiriti beati


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## francisgranada

bearded said:


> Well, but in Italian 'lume' is/has been often used metaphorically - as a ''high source of light''. Cf. (from Treccani Dictionary):


Yes,  and in my opinion this is valid also for Latin. For example, see the biblical "fiat _lux _et facta est _lux_" (not "fiat _lumen ...." _) . I.e. God created _lux _(as a "substance" non existent before) and as consequence, he is the source of _lumen_, used also in the metaphorical/religious sense.

(Well, this is not an exact linguistic definition, of course  ....)


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## Sobakus

francisgranada said:


> Yes,  and in my opinion this is valid also for Latin. For example, see the biblical "fiat _lux _et facta est _lux_" (not "fiat _lumen ...." _) . I.e. God created _lux _(as a "substance" non existent before) and as consequence, he is the source of _lumen_, used also in the metaphorical/religious sense.
> 
> (Well, this is not an exact linguistic definition, of course  ....)


But it's _lūmen_ that is the source of _lūx_, not the other way around. _fīat lūx _- you clap your hands and the lights go on. _fīat lūmen_ - you clap your hands and a lightbulb pops up out of thin air. _lūmen_'s primary meaning is given by OLD as "light, radiance", which I find questionable, since it's basically _lūx+men_ ("concrete noun suffix"). In any case, _lūmen _is frequently employed for light as a substance, but not the other way around.


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