nonagesimussecundus

Theme for this week: Easily confused words

mando, mandare, mandavi, mandatum

Definition: to entrust, commit; to commission, command

mando, mandere, mandi, mansum

Definition: to chew, eat, devour, masticate

Sententiae: Parentes mandant ne liberi soli nent.

The parents order that the children do not swim alone.

Liberi quaesunt eos ut glires cotidie/quotidie mandant.

The children desire that they may devour dormice every day.

The confusion between these two words is understandable--their first principle part is the same! In the syllabi, mandare is found in Catullus 64 three times (ter!) and in Vergil's Aeneid Book 4. Mandere is found also in Book 4 of the Aeneid. One way to remember mandare is the derivative which is also its definition--command, or mandate, another derivative. But as is demonstrated by the sententiae, often these two words must be discriminated by context.