Seeing that requests containing this word are quite frequent, I thought it would be a good idea to make this sticky, so as not to have to repeat the same explanations in each individual request.
The literal word for "dream" in Latin does not share all the meanings of the English one. It can mean:
1) A dream you have while asleep.
2) Figuratively: idle fancy, idle imagining, nonsense, delusion.
It does not mean "the ideal thing", a high aspiration, desire, with a positive connotation.
The same thing holds for the verb "to dream".
Knowing this, if you mean "dream" in the sense that the Latin word does not share with the English, you have three options:
1) Keeping your phrase in English, or in any other language in which the word shares the same figurative meaning. Thus you'll be sure it will still mean exactly what it means to you.
If you still want something in Latin:
2) Opting for "real Latin", keeping in mind that it won't be exactly the same thing but something rather approximate like "hope", "desire", "wish", "what I aspire to", or something else of the same kind depending on the larger context of your phrase.
3) You may just not care what the literal word could or could not mean back in the day in actual Latin, and decide to use it nonetheless, imposing your own modern meaning on it.
Please let us know what you're going for.
The literal word for "dream" in Latin does not share all the meanings of the English one. It can mean:
1) A dream you have while asleep.
2) Figuratively: idle fancy, idle imagining, nonsense, delusion.
It does not mean "the ideal thing", a high aspiration, desire, with a positive connotation.
The same thing holds for the verb "to dream".
Knowing this, if you mean "dream" in the sense that the Latin word does not share with the English, you have three options:
1) Keeping your phrase in English, or in any other language in which the word shares the same figurative meaning. Thus you'll be sure it will still mean exactly what it means to you.
If you still want something in Latin:
2) Opting for "real Latin", keeping in mind that it won't be exactly the same thing but something rather approximate like "hope", "desire", "wish", "what I aspire to", or something else of the same kind depending on the larger context of your phrase.
3) You may just not care what the literal word could or could not mean back in the day in actual Latin, and decide to use it nonetheless, imposing your own modern meaning on it.
Please let us know what you're going for.
