A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

at: (Eng.word) known as a “function word” in English, expressing numerous grammatical relationships, such as a preposition; used to translate some of the following Latin constructs:

NOTE: not the Latin conj. ‘at,’ q.v.

1. in the sense of 'at which,' 'place where' is expressed by ad (prep. with acc.);

- ad basim, at the base.

- ad extremum, at the end.

- caules ad internodia radicantes, stems at internodes rooting.

2. in (prep. with abl.);

- in angulis, at the angles.

3. with the ablative expressing place where;

- basi, at the base.

- margine, at the margin

- apice, at the apex

- foliis margine grosse serratis, with the leaves at the margin coarsely serrate.

- petalis basi attenuatis, with the petals at the base thinned.

- valvis apice apiculatis, with the valves at the apex apiculate.

- folia basi acuta, apice acuminata, margine subrevoluta, leaves at the base acute, at the apex acuminata, at the margin somewhat revolute.

4. with ablative expressing time:

- thalli ante divisionem, divisione, post divisionem bifurcati, thalli before division, at division, after division bifurcate.

Note 'ante' and 'post' are prepositions taking the accusative case; 'divisione' is in the ablative (of specific time, or time within which).

- vere ineunte: at the approach of spring (spring coming in, arriving).

- folia tempore florendi decidua, leaves at the time of flowering deciduous.

5. for places such as towns and small islands by the old locative case (gen. sg. in s.I and s.II, as abl. sg. in s.III, s. IV, s.V);

- Gedani, at Danzig.

- Gottingae, at Goettingen.

- Holmiae, at Stockholm.

- Lipsiae, at Leipzig.

- Lugduni, at Lyon.

- Lugduni Batavorum, at Leiden.

- Lutetiae, at Paris.

- Patavii, at Padua.

- Tiguri, at Zurich.

- Ultrajecti, at Utrecht. (adapted from Stearn 1983).

6. with respect to time, the preposition 'in' + abl. may also mean 'at:'

- in tali tempore, at such time.

- in maturitate, at maturity.

- in praesentia, for the present, now, at present.

7. with respect to time, the preposition 'sub' + abl. may mean 'at:'

- sub maturitate, at maturity; sub maturitate conidiorum, at the maturity of the conidia.

- sub germinatione, at germination.

- sub anthesi, at [during, while] anthesis.

- sub fructificatione, at the time of fruiting.

at (Latin conj.), ast (conj.): to introduce an idea different from, entirely or not quite entirely opposed to one that has gone before” (Cassell’s), adding a qualification, moreover, but, but then, yet; adding an entirely opposite thought: but, but indeed, but on the other hand, on the contrary, however (after Lewis & Short).

NOTE: not the English function word ‘at,’ q.v.

- at contra, but on the other hand, but on the contrary.

- at vero but in truth, but in reality.

- at etiam, but also

- aculeis vix oculo armato manifestis at ope microscopii compositi perspicuis, prickles scarcely with the eye equipped [with a lens] evident but with the aid of a compound microscope quite evident.

- superficies verruculosa, quasi coccidiis instructa, at verrucae fructificationi haud inservientes; surface verruculose, as if provided with coccidia, yet the verrucae are not devoted to fructification.

- Phaseolus Americanus vel Brasilianus VI. C B. at perperam Phaseolum vocat (Ray), Phaseolus americanus or brasilianus VI. C.B. [Caspar Bauhin] but incorrectly called Phaseolum.

- [moss] caeterum folia ‘crispa’ cum ‘contortis’ et ‘cirrhatis’ a plerisque auctoribas confunduntur; at crispum (Gall, crepé) potius de superficie, cirrhatum vero (Gall. frisé) de marginibus et apice dicitur (Brid.), in other respects ‘crispate’ leaves are confused with ‘contorted’ and ‘cirrhate’ by very many authors; however ‘crispum’ is stated more regarding the surface (French, crepé), ‘cirrhate’ (French frisé) regarding the margins and apices.