Latin language

Latin is a language which was the dominant medium of communication in Europe during the ascendancy of the Roman Empire. Although widespread use of the tongue had declined by the Ninth Century, it remains important in a number of particulars. Much vocabulary in Romance languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese can be traced back to Latin, and the English language, having borrowed heavily from each of these, similarly has distinct Latin roots. Latin is the liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church, and Latin terminology is still used in the sciences, particularly in medicine, as well as in law.

Latin is a highly synthetic language, using many suffixes to indicate concerns such as number, gender, formality, possession, and tense. Verbs are conjugated, nouns and adjectives declined.