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Latin language
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Latin inscription
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Latin inscription
Latin inscription Latin inscription in the Colosseum, Rome, 5th century.

Latin language

Also known as: lingua Latina
Written by
Rebecca Posner
Professor of Romance Languages, University of Oxford. Author of The Romance Languages: A Linguistic Introduction and others; editor of Trends in Romance Linguistics and Philology (5 vol.).
Rebecca PosnerAll
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Latin language, Indo-European language in the Italic group and ancestral to the modern Romance languages. Originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River, Latin spread with the increase of Roman political power, first throughout Italy and then throughout most of western and southern Europe and the central and western Mediterranean coastal regions of Africa. The modern Romance languages developed from the spoken Latin of various parts of the Roman Empire....

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