Otium names its parts with Latin words, the same in every language. Each one has a story: here they are, with the stress in the right place.
Otium
ṓ·ti·um
Latin · neuter noun
Time free from business, given to study, reading and oneself.
Origin
An old Latin word of uncertain origin.
What you find
The name of the whole thing: the app and the site are made for this time.
Numquam se minus otiosum esse quam cum otiosus.
Never less idle than when he was at leisure.
Cicero, De officiis III, 1 (said of Scipio Africanus)
Negotium
ne·gṓ·ti·um
Latin · neuter noun
Business, duties, work: everything that is not otium.
Origin
From nec, 'not', and otium: literally 'not-otium'.
What you find
What Otium leaves at the door: hurry and noise.
Atrium
ā́·tri·um
Latin · neuter noun
The entrance hall of the Roman house, where guests were received.
Origin
Origin uncertain; Servius (on the Aeneid I, 726) links it to ater, 'black', from the smoke of the hearth.
What you find
Your home: pick up the book you are reading from here. Go to Atrium
Bibliotheca
bi·bli·o·thḗ·ca
Latin · feminine noun
The place, or the bookcase, where books are kept.
Origin
From Greek bibliothḗkē: biblíon, 'book', and thḗkē, 'case'.
What you find
Your library: the books you own, read and want to read. Go to Bibliotheca
Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.
If you have a garden in your library, nothing will be lacking.
Cicero, Letters to Friends IX, 4 (to Varro)
Inveniam
in·vé·ni·am
Latin · verb, future (1st pers. sing.)
'I shall find': to find, to discover.
Origin
From invenire: in, 'upon', and venire, 'to come'; to come upon something.
What you find
Book search: titles, authors and genres in the catalogue. Go to Inveniam
Aut inveniam viam aut faciam
I shall find a way, or make one.
Attributed to Hannibal, by tradition before the Alps; it has no certain ancient source.
Communitas
com·mū́·ni·tas
Latin · feminine noun
Fellowship: what one shares with others.
Origin
From communis, 'common': com-, 'together', and munus, 'duty, gift'.
What you find
The other readers: groups, messages and reviews. Go to Communitas
Persona
per·sṓ·na
Latin · feminine noun
The actor's mask; then the role, and the person.
Origin
Gellius (Attic Nights V, 7) derives it from per-sonare, 'to sound through'; scholars now look to Etruscan φersu.
What you find
Your profile: how other readers see you. Go to Persona
Agorà
a·go·rá
Greek · feminine noun
The square of the Greek city, where people gathered to talk.
Origin
Greek, not Latin: agorá, from ageírō, 'to gather'.
What you find
The readers' square: posts and replies, with or without a book.
Sententiae
sen·tén·ti·ae
Latin · feminine plural noun
Opinions and judgements; and the short sentences that fix them: maxims.
Origin
Plural of sententia, from sentire, 'to feel, to think'.
What you find
In the app: the quotations from a book that readers pass around.
Quot homines, tot sententiae.
As many men, so many opinions.
Terence, Phormio, line 454
Comitia
co·mí·ti·a
Latin · neuter plural noun
The assemblies in which the Roman people voted.
Origin
Plural of comitium, from com-, 'together', and ire, 'to go': the place people go to together (Varro, De lingua Latina V, 155).
What you find
In groups: the vote that picks the next book.
Vestigia
ve·stī́·gi·a
Latin · neuter plural noun
Footprints; then the traces something leaves behind.
Origin
Plural of vestigium, 'footprint'; origin uncertain.
What you find
In the app: the steps towards your reading goal, one book at a time.
Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae.
I recognise the traces of the old flame.
Virgil, Aeneid IV, 23
Vestale
ve·stà·le
Italian, from Latin · feminine noun
The priestess of Vesta, who kept the sacred fire of Rome.
Origin
From Latin Vestalis, 'of Vesta', goddess of the hearth.
What you find
In the app: she guards your streak and covers a lost reading day.
Liber mensis
lí·ber mḗn·sis
Latin · phrase
'The book of the month'.
Origin
Liber, 'book' (originally the inner bark of a tree, used for writing), and mensis, 'of the month'.
What you find
The group of the month: one book read together, chapter by chapter. Go to Liber mensis
Tablinum
ta·blī́·num
Latin · neuter noun
The study of the Roman house, between atrium and peristyle.
Origin
From tabula, 'tablet': the family records were kept there.
What you find
The place for your notes, next to the right book.
Statisticae
sta·tí·sti·cae
modern Latin · feminine plural noun
The figures that describe a state of affairs.
Origin
Not classical Latin: from status, 'state', via Italian statista and German Statistik (Achenwall, 1749).
What you find
Your reading year in figures: books, pages, days.
Kalendae, Nonae, Idus
ka·lḗn·dae · nṓ·nae · ī́·dus
Latin · feminine plural noun
The three fixed days of the Roman month: the Kalends on the 1st, the Nones on the 5th and the Ides on the 13th (the 7th and 15th in March, May, July and October). Every other day counts backwards to the next one, including both today and the fixed day: a.d. V Kal. Dec. is the fifth day before the Kalends of December, 27 November.
Origin
Kalendae from calare, 'to call': on the first of the month a pontiff announced how many days were left until the Nones (Varro, De lingua Latina VI, 27). Nonae because they fall nine days before the Ides, counting both. Idus is of uncertain origin, perhaps Etruscan.
What you find
The date at the foot of every page, computed in your time zone. One simplification: a leap February is counted over 29 days, without the Romans' doubled sixth day (bis sextum).
Hora, Vigilia
hṓ·ra · vi·gí·li·a
Latin · feminine noun
The Romans divided daylight into twelve horae, from sunrise to sunset: long in summer, short in winter, because they change with the seasons. The night, from sunset to sunrise, into four vigiliae.
Origin
Hora from Greek hṓra, 'season, the right moment'; vigilia from vigil, 'awake': it was the sentries' turn of watch.
What you find
The hour next to the logo: it is Rome's, computed from sunrise and sunset in Rome, and it changes by itself. On a book's page, the horae its reading takes, estimated at 40 pages an hour.
Saturnalia
sā·tur·nā́·li·a
Latin · neuter plural noun
The feast of Saturn, from 17 December: for a few days the world turned upside down, masters served their slaves at table, and people gave each other cerei, wax candles, and sigillaria, clay figurines.
Origin
From Saturnus, the god of sowing, who in myth reigned over Latium in the golden age.
What you find
From 17 to 23 December, in your own day, the colophon greets you with 'Io, Saturnalia!', the cry of the feast, and a gold thread runs beneath the header.
