tristis

Tristis is a Latin adjective meaning sad, sorrowful, or mournful. In classical Latin it describes emotional states, atmospheres, or circumstances and can modify nouns of any gender. The neuter form is triste, used with neuter nouns. The term is encountered in literary, religious, and legal Latin texts, often conveying a mood of melancholy or solemn gravity.

A notable usage is found in the Latin Vulgate Bible, where the phrase Tristis est anima mea appears in reference to Jesus’s anguish in Gethsemane, roughly translating to “My soul is sorrowful.” This line is frequently cited in discussions of Latin phrasing and biblical translation, illustrating the word’s strong emotional connotation.

Beyond its classical context, tristis has influenced modern Romance languages, yielding triste as the common adjective in Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, and the form triste in French. These cognates retain the core sense of sadness or somberness and appear in everyday language as well as literature and media.

In scientific naming, tristis often serves as a species epithet in zoological and botanical nomenclature. Used descriptively, it can indicate a dull coloration or a somber appearance in the organism described, though the epithet is not tied to any single taxon.

Overall, tristis remains a concise historical term bridging classical Latin usage and contemporary languages, reflecting a durable association with sadness and solemnity in culture and science.