Medieval Latin Core — Vocabulary Infographic

The authentic University of Toronto Core Medieval Latin Vocabulary (Billett 2024) and a panel-built 3-year reading curriculum. The coverage charts are computed from 22 lemmatized author corpora (3rd–13th c.) measured against the CMS core. Hover a bar for figures; click legend chips to toggle authors.

The 3-year build — from core to independence

Year 1 front-loads the CMS core; Years 2–3 add reading vocabulary harvested from the authors. Cumulative word stock at each stage.

Coverage ladder — how far the words take you

Each line is one author: learn the N most-frequent words of that author and you understand this share of their running text. Computed from lemmatized corpora; every curve begins at the CMS core.

The horizontal axis is how many of an author's most-frequent words you've learned (log scale); the vertical axis is the percentage of their running text you'd then understand. A line that climbs fast and high marks an easy author (Augustine, the Vulgate); a low, slow line a hard one (Gerald of Wales, the poets). Click a legend chip to toggle its line; authors marked “·” are late-antique comparanda, not in the curriculum.

After the core — author build-up tiers

Each bar starts at the share of text the CMS core already covers, then adds the author-specific words needed to reach 80% (T1), 90% (T2) and 95% (T3) coverage.

The first (navy) segment is the share of that author's text the CMS core alone covers; the green/gold/brick segments are the extra author-specific words to climb to 80/90/95%. A longer build-up means more vocabulary that author demands beyond the core. Hover a segment for exact word counts; sort by core %, chronologically, or curriculum-first.

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Shared vs. author-specific build-up

Of the recurring build-up (non-core) words, how many of the 22 author corpora use each. Click a bar to open those exact words in Study; the words common to many authors are the highest-value next step after the core.

Every recurring word beyond the CMS core is counted by how many of the 22 authors use it. The big “one author only” bar is vocabulary specific to a single author; the small high-share bars are words many authors use yet that aren't in the core — the best words to learn next. Click any bar to list those exact words in the Study tab.

Core ↔ classical overlap

How the CMS medieval core relates to the classical Dickinson core: shared words vs. a distinctively medieval layer.

Medieval/ecclesiastical signatures: abbās abbot · monastērium monastery · episcopus bishop · missa Mass · caritās charity.

Semantic map of the medieval layer

The words medieval Latin adds beyond the classical core, grouped by field (area ∝ word count).

Parts of speech

Grammatical make-up of the CMS core.

Genre coverage vs the CMS Level-II exam

The Level-II exam draws on nine genres; how many curriculum works cover each. ★ = gap-filler.

Importance of the reading list

The 28 works rated on four axes (High/Med/Low). Where the curriculum’s weight falls.

Across the centuries

When the curriculum’s authors wrote (number of works per century, 3rd–14th).

Browse and drill the whole medieval vocabulary — the CMS core plus the curriculum’s reading words. Search Latin or English; switch to flashcards or a quiz. Progress saves in your browser.