Octogesimus Quartus: July 12, 2008: No
Theme for this week: Olympic sports
no, nare, navi, --
Definition: to swim, float; to sail, fly
Sententia: Athletae in Olympiis nant tam celeriter ut esse pisces videantur.
Athletes in the Olympics swim so quickly that they seem to be fishes.
This word is rather common. It is found in Catullus 64 (thrice!), and in Book 1 of the Aeneid. This word's Olympic sport is...swimming! AND diving--you do have to swim to the wall after you enter the water! And I suppose water polo, since it does involve a lot of swimming, but it isn't as "primetime" and popular as the former two. This word is cool because its principle parts contain two English words-- "no" and "nare[s]."
The word nato, natare also means "to swim," and it is from this word that the English word "natatorium" comes. A noted natatorium is the "Water Cube" in Beijing--for any of you who haven't see it, a picture is here.
NB: Bold and underline == macron