latin for "death bringer"

[hazzatheawesome]

there wasn't a language section to put this in so i thought i might ask here.

[jno]

I saw 'Mortifer' somewhere. (mor = death, fer = carry) I don't know if it's any sort of real word, but I don't suppose 'death bringer' is either.

[sandyRoe]

Lucifer means 'bringer of light', so Mortifer could well mean bringer of death

[MarkRae]

'mortifer' is perfectly fine, and is a very "Latin" way of agglutinating two root nouns to form a compound noun. Cf 'Christopher' which means literally Christ bearer etc.

I was about to explain things like gender and declension, but it's all listed here:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mortifer

Obviously, something which "brings death" is deadly / fatal, so 'mortifer' fits the bill perfectly.

[jno]

do you know if the word was actually used by Romans, MarkRae, or if it's a modern coinage?

[naomi24]

Angelus Mortis?

[MarkRae]

> do you know if the word was actually used by Romans

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mortifer

[jno]

I saw the link, MarkRae, but it doesn't quite answer my question. It's no doubt Latin but is it the Latin of the caesars or of (say) the modern Vatican?

[MarkRae]

"Haec ratio quondam morborum et mortifer aestus finibus in Cecropis funestos reddidit agros uastauitque uias..." Virgil

[jno]

thanks, MarkRae.

[Clanad]

Mortis nuntius ... Death Messenger