# Eternal Beauty



## merlesgirl

Hello!
I'm trying to figure out the right way to say eternal beauty in latin. I want beauty referring to a person so I'm thinking maybe "eternus pulchritudo", but I have been told by someone who took latin in highshool, which has now been a while, that it should be "venustas" instead of "pulchritudo". I want this as a tattoo and I have been doing the research on my own and I have come to realize I need some help lol.


----------



## Kevin Beach

It depends on what sort of beauty you want to express.

*Pulchritudo* tends to refer to the beauty of objects or ideas.

*Venustas*, derived from the word used to name Venus, the goddess of love, means physical beauty or charm.

For "eternal" you can choose between:

*aeternus*

*sempiterns*

*immortalis*

*perpetuus*

My preference is for *venustas immortalis*, because it denotes something lasting beyond death.


----------



## relativamente

If you use pulchritudo,you should use a feminine adjective form.Also venustas is feminine
AETERNA PULCHRITUDO
Lepor is masculine, but if you want to use vocative form you should say aeterne lepus.


----------



## relativamente

Excuse me.It is not lepus (it's quite different thing )but lepor, vocative lepore


----------



## Hamlet2508

merlesgirl said:


> Hello!
> I'm trying to figure out the right way to say eternal beauty in latin. I want beauty referring to a person so I'm thinking maybe "eterna pulchritudo", but I have been told by someone who took latin in highshool, which has now been a while, that it should be "venustas" instead of "pulchritudo". I want this as a tattoo and I have been doing the research on my own and I have come to realize I need some help lol.



in poetry you have "forma"  for (physical) beauty as well
(as in Tibullus or Ovid )

regards,
Hamlet


----------



## Cagey

In addition to explaining the type of beauty you have in mind, it will also help if you explain the underlying thought.  The suggestions are simply for "eternal beauty" as a name, a label.  

If you want to express the idea that beauty is eternal, or a hope that it will be, or the idea that you live with/by eternal beauty, the Latin form will be different.


----------



## merlesgirl

Well, I really like venustas immortalis, however I'm not quite sure, because I found that may be translated as the beauty of an immortal, which isn't quite what I am going for. I want the words "eternal beauty" as if I am saying I have eternal beauty (beauty being primarily physical).


----------



## Cagey

merlesgirl said:


> well, i really like venustas immortalis, however I'm not quite sure, because I found that may be translated as the beauty of an immortal, which isn't quite what I am going for. I want the words "eternal beauty" as if i am saying i have eternal beauty (beauty being primarily physical)



By itself, _venustas immortalis_ would normally be translated as "immortal beauty" (not "beauty _of_ an immortal").   In a sentence, it might mean "_of_ an immortal", as your informants said.

For your intended meaning, I would suggest "venustate immortale".  This is an abbreviated form of "venustate immortali sum", which might be translated "I am [a person] of immortal beauty." 

I hope that some of my fellow Latinists will offer their opinions and comments on this, and make suggestions of their own.


----------



## franz rod

> My preference is for *venustas immortalis*, because it denotes something lasting beyond death


In this case I prefer sempiternus:  "omnibus, qui patriam conservaverint, adiuverint, auxerint, certum esse in caelo  definitum locum, ubi beati aevo *sempiterno* fruantur"
From Somium Scipionis, Cicero


----------



## Cagey

franz rod said:


> In this case I prefer sempiternus:  "omnibus, qui patriam conservaverint, adiuverint, auxerint, certum esse in caelo  definitum locum, ubi beati aevo *sempiterno* fruantur"
> From Somium Scipionis, Cicero



Perhaps you could explain why you prefer _sempiternus_.  The original poster is not a Latinist and an explanation will help her make an informed choice.


----------



## franz rod

Why?   Because I love Cicero   


The word sempiternus is made up from the word semper (always) and aeternus (eternal) so it means a "very long eternity"...


----------



## Kevin Beach

franz rod said:


> Why?   Because I love Cicero
> 
> 
> The word sempiternus is made up from the word semper (always) and aeternus (eternal) so it means a "very long eternity"...


But, eternity being outside of time and therefore indivisible, there cannot be degrees of eternity, long, short or otherwise.

Which is why I prefer *immortalis*. It means something undying, incapable of death, never-ending.


----------



## franz rod

> there cannot be degrees of eternity, long, short or otherwise



Yes, but in the word sempiternus the idea of eternity is emphasized by two words.  Some word can be synonymous but often one of them is more "strong".
For example in this topic there's a discussion also about pulchritudo and venustas. At first they can be seen as synonymous but venustas has something "divine".



> Which is why I prefer *immortalis*. It means something undying, incapable of death, never-ending.



Well, Cicero, in the example I had written, used this word to express the "real life" that last forever in contraposition to our life that is not life (nostra enim, quae dicitur vita, mors est.  in fact our, that is called life, is death).  So the word sempiternus is used with something that is more important than a simply not-dying.
Sorry for my little English.


----------



## Kevin Beach

franz rod said:


> Yes, but in the word sempiternus the idea of eternity is emphasized by two words.  Some word can be synonymous but often one of them is more "strong".
> For example in this topic there's a discussion also about pulchritudo and venustas. At first they can be seen as synonymous but venustas has something "divine".
> 
> 
> 
> Well, Cicero, in the example I had written, used this word to express the "real life" that last forever in contraposition to our life that is not life (nostra enim, quae dicitur vita, mors est.  in fact our, that is called life, is death).  So the word sempiternus is used with something that is more important than a simply not-dying.
> Sorry for my little English.


We are straying into the realms of philosophy and theology, but the eternity I have in mind is that which exists outside of this life, before it, during it and beyond it, but never knowing time.It is an absolute, not a mere superlative, not matter how many times it is amplified by compound words.


----------



## franz rod

> We are straying into the realms of philosophy and theology, but the eternity I have in mind is that which exists outside of this life, before it, during it and beyond it, but never knowing time.It is an absolute, not a mere superlative, not matter how many times it is amplified by compound words.



How I've already said, we use only words and some of them can have a more powerful meanging even if they can seem synonymous.
Word like immortalis is linked to our world, to the idea of death and its absence.
Word like sempiternus is linked to a "world beyond the our one".
For example I would use sempiternus for describe God, not immortalis.


----------



## Twinmeister

Kevin Beach said:


> But, eternity being outside of time and therefore indivisible, there cannot be degrees of eternity, long, short or otherwise.
> 
> Which is why I prefer *immortalis*. It means something undying, incapable of death, never-ending.


 
But aren't you guilty of making a similar mistake? Beauty is a non-living thing, so it cannot die anymore than eternity can be long or short - for this reason, I prefer æternus


----------

