# Latin experts, venite! Can anyone tell me how you would say "treats" in Latin, in the sense of cat treats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460 "2023-02-27T22:35:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/1 "2023-02-27T22:35:27Z")
Question in header. Reason wanted, to be revealed once I have a usable translation and complete the image for which I intend to use this. It turns out, not surprisingly, that googling for a translation of treat" or “treats” is just about impossible, given that the word “treat” has various unrelated meanings. So how would I do this? Did the Romans and the medieval scribes have no general word for when you give some small special item to a child or animal? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/2 "2023-02-27T23:04:36Z")
Well, the stuff emperors used to throw to the people were _missilia,_ “throwables.” That’s how I give treats to my cats: they enjoy the hunt. The more desserty-type (confectionary) can be _bellaria,_ “beautiful things.” I think part of the difficulty is that the use of the word “treat” in this meaning is modern, and most of the Latin dictionaries are old. You want to search with Victorian vocabulary. (Looking this up further, it seems that the modern meaning goes back a ways, but until the mid-1800s “treat” was just as likely to mean “feast” or “party” as “small snack,” and for some reason my Latin dictionaries seized on the “feast” meaning.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/3 "2023-02-27T23:16:49Z")
Buccellam, ‘morsel’? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/4 "2023-02-27T23:20:43Z")
esca? = food, tidbit. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/5 "2023-02-27T23:51:01Z")
I don’t think either of those quite works. _Buccella_ is a little mouthful, but it’s quite strongly associated with the bread given out to the poor. _Esca_ is a pretty generic food word, but has strong associations with bait, and none with food that’s particularly nice or pleasant. _Edulia_ is another option, though again it’s really just “edibles.” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/6 "2023-02-28T00:39:15Z")
I am not really sure of the answer (need to read more classics…) Perhaps something along the lines of “bellaria” or “catillamina”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/7 "2023-02-28T00:52:29Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > _Esca_ is a pretty generic food word, but has strong associations with bait… Given that we are talking about cats here… ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/8 "2023-02-28T03:10:29Z")
ChatGPT suggested deliciae or pabulum. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/9 "2023-02-28T03:15:45Z")
Lions are cats, right? So, _Christiani_? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/10 "2023-02-28T03:26:20Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > _Buccella_ is a little mouthful, but it’s quite strongly associated with the bread given out to the poor. If _buccella_ means just a “morsel” , then I suppose I could just add an appropriate adjective, like “delicious”, “tasty”, “savory”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/11 "2023-02-28T03:33:09Z")
And now I’ll show you all what I wanted to know this for. Just for laughs, I created a sky map as if it had been made by cats for cats. I haven’t put in any Latin names yet, but if you look to the upper right, you’ll see the Seven Treats (Not Enough). [Cat Astronomy](https://flic.kr/p/2ojmC7W) ETA I’ll probably redo the background layer of stars, but this gives you the general idea. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/12 "2023-03-01T21:45:08Z")
I typed “Delicious Morsels” into Google Translate just now, and it came up with _Bucellas Delectabiles_. Curiously enough, when I tried it yesterday I got _Delectabili Boli_. I guess either one would work fine. Obviously, this doesn’t need to be absolutely accurate, but neither did I want to just make up some fake Latin. We had a dog at home when I was growing up, and whenever we had to give him a pill we’d roll it into a ball of cheese. My dad, an MD, would call it a “bolus”, and that dog absolutely loved it. It was the second highlight of his day, after the evening walk. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-experts-venite-can-anyone-tell-me-how-you-would-say-treats-in-latin-in-the-sense-of-cat-treats/980460/13 "2023-03-02T01:13:02Z")
nb ‘catillamen’ has ‘cat’ in it 🙂 > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I typed “Delicious Morsels” into Google Translate just now, and it came up with _Bucellas Delectabiles_. Curiously enough, when I tried it yesterday I got _Delectabili Boli_. I always suspect it is strictly ‘Romanes eunt domus’ with Google Translate. You would think at least they might spell it right. Btw I am not 100% on the difference between buccellae sapidae/delectabiles/amoenae/iucundae/… and what exactly would be implied.