A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

sui (reflexive pronoun third person, genitive sg. & pl., all genders and BOTH numbers, i.e. singular and plural), ‘of himself, herself, itself, themselves;’ dat. sibi, ‘to himself,’ etc.; se or sese, ‘himself,’ etc.; reflexive pronoun referring to the preceding subject:

- folium sese margine secus connatum, ‘leaf connate with itself along the margin,’ ‘itself’ refers to the leaf, the subject of the sentence.

NOTE: there is only one form for both singular and plural (there is no separate plural form), i.e. it is never the subject of a finite verb.

                        singular and plural

    Nom.  -             there is no nominative form.   
    Gen. sui            of himself, herself, itself,       themselves   
    Dat. sibi           to/for himself, herself, itself,   themselves   
    Acc. se or sese     himself, herself, itself,          themselves   
    Abl. se or sese     by/with/from himself, herself, itself, themselves;   
                          also by/with/from each other, from one another.

- folium sese margine secus connatum, leaf connate with itself along the margin.

- se ipsum amat, he loves himself.

- spinae a se ex adverso flexae, spines turned in opposite directions from each other; cf. ovule, veining.

- planta subinde per gemmas filamentosas se regenerans, plant from time to time reproducing itself by filamentous gemmae.

- genus vix magis a Buckinghamia differt quam sectiones Grevilleae inter se, the genus scarcely differs more from Buckinghamia that the sections of Grevillea between themselves [to each other] (B&H) [note ‘magis’ is a comparative adverb].

- leguminis articuli sibi invicem replicati intra calycem retracti (B&H), the joints of the legume alternately turned back [upon themselves, dat.], drawn back inside the calyx.

- ovulum erectum nec pendulum vidimus in speciminibus ipsis Nuttallianis Cyrtorrhynchae sui (B&H), we see the ovule erect, not pendulous, in Nuttall’s own specimens of Cyrtorrhyncha itself.

- [algae] cellulae plerumque quasi vacuae et hyalinae, rarius coloratae (Laurenciae quaedam), aut amylaceis (?) granulis. facile sese solventibus (Gracilaria, Sphaerococcus) repletae (Agardh), cells commonly almost empty and hyaline, more rarely colored (certain Laurenciae), or filled with (perhaps) amylaceous granules, easily breaking up from each other (Gracilaria, Sphaerococcus).

- frutices bacciferi foliis deciduis non spinosi sunt vel erecti aut suis se viribus sustinentes (Ray), the berry-producing shrubs are with leaves deciduous, not with spines, erect or supporting itself with its own strength.

‘inter se,’ ‘inter sese:’ (a notation that includes both the singular and plural) means ‘between’ or ‘among themselves’ and is often associated with a plural object subjected to a common verb or adjective; it may also be translated as ‘together;’ associated with verbs of uniting or joining ‘themselves together’ or differing between themselves;

- genera inter sibi similia, the genera similar to one another.

- genera inter sibi differentia, the genera differing between each other.

- ovarium 1-loculare, placentis e basi loculi oriundis, in medio loculo inter se, rarius dorso cum parietibus, connatis (B&H), ovary 1-locular, with the placentas arising from the base of the locule, connate among themselves.

- Disciflorarum cohortes 8 et 9 characteribus pluribus distinctissimae sunt, cohors 7 et 10 inter se imprimis ovulorum situ differunt)B&H), the cohorts [i.e. orders] eight and nine of the Disciflorae are very distinctive by many characters, cohort [order] 7 and 10 are different among [between] themselves particularly by the position of the ovules.

- petala in variis Ordinibus basi inter se seape cohaerent, imprimis in Ternstroemiaceis, Olacineis, Ilicineis, aliisque (B&H), the petals in various orders are often coherent between themselves, especially in the Ternstroemiaceae, Olacineae, Ilicineae and others.

- venis lateralibus angulum 45°-80° inter se formantibus, with the lateral veins between themselves forming an angle of 45-80 degrees.

- ramuli verticillorum inter se dissimiles, primarii plerumque 8, secundarii minores circa 16, duobus ordinibus, branchlets of the whorls between themselves dissimilar, the primary ones commonly 8, the secondary ones smaller about 16, in two series (Stearn 1983).

- folia basi vaginis foliorum deciduorum persistentibus, inter se obvolutis obtecta, leaves at base covered with the sheaths of deciduous leaves persistent, between themselves wrapped around (Stearn).

- costulae inter se 3 mm. (steriles) vel 2 mm. (fertiles) distantes, the costules between themselves 3 mm. (sterile) or 2 mm. (fertile) apart.

- species haec et sequentes inter sese valde affines sunt, this species and the following ones between themselves are very closely akin (Stearn).

- fila intricata inter sese varie concreta, filaments entangled between themselves variously grown together (Stearn).

- genus vix magis a Buckinghamia differt quam sectiones Grevilleae inter se, the genus scarcely differs more from Buckinghamia that the sections of Grevillea between themselves [to each other] (B&H) [note ‘magis’ is a comparative adverb].

NOTE: there is no suis, suorum, suae or other forms one might expect in an A adjective paradigm: see suus,-a,-um (adj.A): reflexive possessive pronominal adjective of the third person.

NOTE: sui generis "of its own kind/genus", that is, unique in its characteristics;

- ab omnibus aliis speciebus sui generis in paludibus habitanti differt, from all other species if its own genus by dwelling in swamps it differs.

- structura calycis interior nobis omnino ignota, sed stirps evidenter sui generis est (B&H), inner structure of the calyx completely unknown to us, but the plant evidently is of its own genus.

Suicida,-ae (s.comm.I), a suicide, a person who killed him-, her-self [> L. sui (gen.), sibi (dat), se (accus. and abl.)’ oneself’ + Eng. -cide: a self-killer; to kill one’s self].

NOTE: sui: a). [of himself, herself, itself; of themselves: gen. sg. and pl., reflexive pronoun third person; see ‘sui.’

b). (of his, its own); of their own (masc. pl.): reflexive pronominal adj.; see suus,-a,-um (adj.A).

c). dat. sg. of sus (s.n.III), q.v., sow, swine, hog.

NOTE: sui (sibi, se, se) refers to the subject of the sentence (as opposed to eius, eorum, earum, genitives of the demonstrative pronouns is, ea, id [he, she, it, this, that], and which are not reflexive relative to the subject.