“Vulgus”

[Michael Zwingli]

Hi all. Please, what would a couple of antonyms be for vulgus (“crowd”, “mass”, “mob”), especially in a sociological sense. If the vulgus was the mass of the public in Roman society, then what were the “gentlefolk” called? I -am looking for a less particular term than, say, patriciī. Thanks.

 

[Pacifica]

Primates, proceres, nobiles...

 

[Michael Zwingli]

Thank you.

 

[cinefactus]

optimi

 

[Pacifica]

... optimates.

 

[Michael Zwingli]

optimi

... optimates.

Ah yes, I knew that, and didn’t remember it!

 

[Michael Zwingli]

optimi

... optimates.

I was actually looking particularly for a group noun, not a singular noun in the plural, and I have found it: eximiī. It’s Medieval, but as with so many other of these cases, it fills a gap in the Classical vocabulary.

 

[Pacifica]

eximiī

That isn't a singular group noun. It's a plural substantivized adjective (eximius, a, um).

 

[Pacifica]

If you insist on something grammatically singular (though I see no particular reason for that) I guess something like flos civitatis could work in some contexts (it would mean the very best/elite in a country).

 

[Michael Zwingli]

That isn't a singular group noun. It's a plural substantivized adjective (eximius, a, um).

When eximius is substantivized in its male plural forms, is it not effectively a noun?

 

[Michael Zwingli]

I see no particular reason for that

Well, just “consistency” (read “OCD” )

 

[Pacifica]

When eximius is substantivized in its male plural forms, is it not effectively a noun?

You can argue so: substantivized means that it's being used as a noun even though it's originally an adjective.

 

[Pacifica]

Any adjective can theoretically become substantivized, but some do so more often than others. Sometimes, the substantive use is so common that it's honored with its own entry as a noun in most dictionaries (that's the case with bonum and malum, for example). Eximii doesn't belong to that category. Now maybe it was used substantively a bit more often in medieval Latin (I don't know) and the author of some medieval dictionary thought it deserved an entry as a noun, and such matters are subjective... Where did you find it classified as a noun?

 

[AoM]

Since Pacifica mentioned nobiles, how about nobilitas for a collective?

 

[Pacifica]

That works.

 

[Michael Zwingli]

Actually, though I made light of it earlier, I am rather limited seeking for a coordinate term to vulgus, and I do not think that a lexeme can represent a true coordinate term to a collective noun unless it is itself a collective noun. I mention as much only to clarify why I would like a collective noun here.