Why is latin used for spells

In fact, there are only a handful of incantations that have different origins, such as Episkey , which comes from Greek. Looking at the world-building, Hogwarts was built a thousand years ago, which puts it roughly at AD This dates it after the fall of the Roman Empire, right when various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were starting to unify in Britain, which does explain why a central school for the British Isles was being built.

But back to the point of Latin. Latin would not have been the most widely spoken language at that time and place, especially since the Romans had long since left. Anglo-Saxon would have been much more common. And yet, while there are a few spells of Anglo-Saxon origin, such as Scourgify , the Anglo-Saxon root is not the most predominant; the more unfamiliar Latin is. One possible explanation for this is that at the time, Latin was the language of power and education.

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It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Entertainment Contributors. Kim Renfro , Tech Insider. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Stay up to date with what you want to know. Latin became the official language of the Catholic Church in the 4th century. Latin was used in Catholic mass until the s, when vernacular languages began to be used instead in Catholicism, at least, as other churches broke off in order to use non-Latin masses.

Over the course of the many centuries in which Latin was the official language of Catholicism, the religion fought against demonic possession, the devil and other magic-adjacent forces. The prayers recited to dispel these creatures were in Latin, and this has been passed down via pop culture i. The Exorcist , causing media consumers to form a mental link between Latin and magic. Throughout history, many sects of Christianity have opposed magic some even banned Harry Potter.

They view it as satanic, but like with exorcisms, even in opposing magic, they have forged deep ties between religion and magic, and thus between Latin and magic. Her studies of Classical language and mythology at the University of Exeter clearly came into play. Green, we've broken down 13 spells to give you newfound appreciation for the inventiveness found in "Harry Potter. In Latin, the verb "accersere" means "to summon or fetch.

Here's an easy one. Confundo is the exact first-person conjugation of the Latin verb "confundere. Another one of the Unforgivable Curses, one of the most sinister spells in the wizarding world , this one is used to make a witch or wizard do your bidding.

The Latin word for "power" is "imperium," and "impero" means "I order. The rather dramatic translation of diffindo is "I cleave asunder," but we can keep it simple and say it means "to split in two.