You would think, given the vast tribe of verbal compounds with inter- as a prefix, that a few species of intrā-compounds would also inhabit that wood of the Latin dictionary. In fact, they are highly endangered, perhaps even extinct. Here are a few compound adjectives and nouns that I discovered; the verbs were nowhere to be found.
The preposition intrā takes an accusative. It is likely derived from the adjectival feminine adjective singular of inter, intra, intrum (intrā) — an archaic adjective which also produced the corresponding preposition inter.
Intra + accusative is primarily used with a single class of nouns, and denotes a space ‘within which.’
intrā moenia, within the walls
intrā me deus est, the Lord is within me
intrā iactum telī, within a javelin’s throw (denoting distance)
Intra + accusative of time is one ways of denoting the time within something occurred.
intrā quattuor annōs, within four years
intrā lucem, before the day was done
intrā diēs paucōs, within few days (before a few days had passed)
intrā morae breve tempus, without a moment’s delay
It can also mean less than a given duration or quantity.
intrā centum fūnera fēcit, he inflicted fewer than 100 casualties
intrā trēs diēs abiit, he left before three days had passed (compare above)
I recently came across the modius and trimodius measures in Plautus, and became curious about what exactly I should imagine. They’re dry measures, typically of grain, but they are also roughly equivalent to a peck and a bushel (bzw.), so we can illustrate them with apple baskets, since it’s Fall—
photo credit: Wikimedia
Here’s a peck, a.k.a a modius.
photo credit: ipadenclosures.com
Here’s a bushel, which is four pecks (a little more than a trimodius).
Imagine what this basket would look like after the slave helped himself to a few…. that’s a trimodius.
Here’s a quick link to Erik Mendoza’s Interpres, which works to bridge the gap between Whitaker’s WORDS and the latest editions of Macintosh OS X.
When I finally purchased a new laptop, I discovered that Whitaker’s WORDS was no longer compatible with Macintosh Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8). William Whitaker died recently so his version of the software remains static and incompatible with the latest versions of OS X. However, Erik Mendoza has been awesome enough to produce Interpres, which is a compatible (and I would argue more user-friendly) version of the WORDS program. Hopefully, Interpres will also jive well with Apple’s up-and-coming Mavericks (OS X 10.9), due out later this year.
If anyone wants to add a footnote about the latest version of WORDS for Windows 8, I’m sure it would be well received! For those of you suffering under the heel of Windows 8, I offer my sincere condolences.