What does “Ego sum ens omnipotens.” mean? The context is a file in the Linux fortune distribution named translate-me. (Knowing more about that software really won’t help you much.)
My Latin is not good, but ego is I, sum is am, ens is entity, and omnipotens has got to mean omnipotent. So, my guess is that the phrase means “I am the omnipotent entity,” or “I am the omnipotent one.”
All your base are belong to us!
Well, if he is the omipotent one, then all your base are belong to him, surely?
“Entity” is fine but I would say “being.” Aquinas’s De ente et essentia is conventionally translated “On Being and Essence.” Since “ego” isn’t strictly essential in Latin, adding it either conveys emphasis or an imperfect learner. I’d guess the latter by the fact that it follows convention English word order, not Latin. It’s not exactly wrong, just unusual. So:
I am the omnipotent being (if you’re a monotheist) or else *I am an omnipotent being *
I think omnipotens sum would be better Latin, though, or even omnipotens ego.
Dr. Drake: Of course the ‘ego’ is essential! You can’t claim to be omnipotent without being a massive egotist.
Thanks, everyone.
Thanks for the clarifications. It’s just that ens looks like entity, you know, but things not meaning what you think they will is part of how language changes over two thousand or so years. Also, thanks for reminding me that Latin has neither the or a, and so you have to guess, kind of, anyway.