Laboribus

Laboribus is a Latin noun form that functions as the dative plural and the ablative plural of the masculine noun labor, meaning work, toil, or hardship. In Classical Latin, labor is a third-declension noun with singular forms such as nom labor, gen laboris, dat labori, acc laborem, abl labore; and plural forms such as nom labores, gen laborum, dat laboribus, acc labores, abl laboribus. Therefore, laboribus appears in contexts where the action relates to giving, receiving, or means, depending on its case.

As a dative plural, laboribus marks the indirect object or beneficiary of an action: to/for the labors. As an ablative plural, it expresses means, instrument, or manner: by/with the labors. The exact sense of laboribus is determined by surrounding words and the verb governing the sentence. It is common to see laboribus modified by adjectives or combined with nouns in genitive to specify whose labors or what kind of labors are being referred to, such as “laboribus magnis” (with great labors) or “laboribus civium” (to/for the labors of the citizens), depending on context and prepositional usage.

In translation, laboribus is not a stand-alone English term; its meaning shifts with case: as dative it yields “to/for the labors,” and as ablative it yields “by/with the labors,” often conveyed more fluidly as “through labors” or “by means of labors.” The form exemplifies Latin’s rich case system and its capacity to express relationship and instrument without prepositions.

Related concepts include the singular form labore (ablative) and the plural labore and labores in other cases, as well as broader discussions of 3rd-declension masculines in Latin grammar.