the meaning of the Latin phrase "responsum dignum viro sapienti?

Question

found on a chair in a wine cellar

Answer 1

The simplest solution to this is
"an answer worthy of a shrewd man"

responsum being the neuter noun meaning answer,reply.
dignum, adjective meaning "worthy of" when followed by the ablative case.

Answer 2

"It is dignified [worthy] to have been answered by a man of wisdom"

responsum is a perfect passive participle, meaning the action happened to the subject in the past.

Marcus responsum est
Marcus was answered

dignum is an adjective and we get our word dignity from it.

viro means man and the ending of "o" means that it is either in the ablative case or dative case.

Because the verb is a verb of action and speaking, I believe that this is an ablative of agent and shows who is doing the speaking.

sapienti (homo sapiens) is a present active particple in the genetive case and describes the man as one of thought, intellegence, or wisdom.

To complete the sentence, we should have the helping verb "to be"/ "est". This was often ommitted as an understood word to save on space, time, money. There was little reason to carve an "EST" into stone over and over again, so it was just dropped.

I see the syntax of the sentence like this:

[perfect passive participle] [neuter adjective appossitive agreeing with the participle] [ablative of agent] [participle genetive of description or quality describing the agent]

If you like, you can check my translation with the super smart Latin people at the textkit.com forums. One may know where this particular quotation may come from

Answer 3

Well, it's been awhile since my grade school Latin classes, but here's my best shot:

Answer a wise man with dignity (worthily)

Answer 4

RESPONSUM
respondeo respondi responsum : to answer, reply, respond.
responsal : deputy, representative.
responsiva : a written reply, answering letter.



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a *um 1 masc sing acc
a *um 1 neut sing nom
a *um 1 neut sing acc
n *um : masc. gen. pl. 3
n *um : neut. nom. sing. 2
n *um : masc. acc.sing. 2
n *um : neut. acc.sing. 2
n *um : masc. acc. sing. 4

n *m : fem. acc. sing. 1




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DIGNUM
dignitas : merit, worth, prestige, dignity.
dignosco dignosco : to distinguish, recognize as different.
dignus : worthy
dignus : (+ abl.) worthy, worthy of, meritorious.



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a *um 1 masc sing acc
a *um 1 neut sing nom
a *um 1 neut sing acc
n *um : masc. gen. pl. 3
n *um : neut. nom. sing. 2
n *um : masc. acc.sing. 2
n *um : neut. acc.sing. 2
n *um : masc. acc. sing. 4

n *m : fem. acc. sing. 1




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VIRO
vir : man, hero, man of courage.
virga : a green twig, rod, stick, wand, broom, streak, stripe.
virgo : maiden, virgin, young girl.
viridis : green.
viriliter : manfully.
virtus : manliness, excellence, character, worth, courage.
vis vires (pl.) : force, power, strength, might, influence.



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a *o 1 masc sing abl
a *o 1 masc sing dat
a *o 1 neut sing abl
a *o 1 neut sing dat
n *o : masc. abl. sing. 2
n *o : masc. dat. sing. 2
n *o : neut. abl. sing. 2
n *o : neut. dat. sing. 2
v *o 1-5 1s pr act ind I see, I do see, I am seeing.




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SAPIENTI
sapiens : (subs.) a wise man, philosopher.
sapiens : wise, judicious.
sapienter : wisely, judiciously.
sapientia : wisdom.



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a *enti 3/1 fem sing dat
a *enti 3/1 fem sing abl
a *enti 3/1 neut sing abl
a *enti 3/1 masc sing dat
a *enti 3/1 neut sing dat
a *enti 3/1 masc sing abl
p *enti 3/1 masc sing dat Present participle.
p *enti 3/1 fem sing dat Present participle.
p *enti 3/1 neut sing dat Present participle.

a *i 3/2 m/f sing dat
a *i 1 masc sing gen
a *i 3/2 neut sing dat
a *i 3/2 neut sing abl
a *i 1 neut sing gen
a *i 1 masc plur nom
a *i 3/2 m/f sing abl
n *i : masc. dat. sing. 3
n *i : fem. dat. sing. 3
n *i : masc. dat. sing. 3
n *i : fem. dat. sing. 3
n *i : masc. gen. sing. 2
n *i : masc. nom. pl. 2
n *i : neut. abl. sing. 3
n *i : neut. dat. sing. 3
n *i : neut. gen. sing. 2
v *i 4 sing. pres. imperative act. : (you) GO!