§130. Defective Comparison
Some Comparatives and Superlatives appear without a Positive:—
| ōcior, swifter; | ōcissimus, swiftest. |
| potior, preferable; 1 | potissimus, most important. |
a. The following are formed from stems not used as adjectives:2—
| cis, citrā (adv., on this side): | citerior, hither; | citimus, hithermost. |
| dē (prep., down): | dēterior, worse; | dēterrimus, worst. |
| in, intrā (prep., in, within): | interior, inner; | intimus, inmost. |
| prae, prō (prep., before): | prior, former; | prīmus, first. |
| prope (adv., near): | propior, nearer; | proximus, next. |
| <*>ltrā (adv., beyond): | ulterior, farther; | ultimus, farthest. |
b. Of the following the positive forms are rare, except when used as nouns (generally in the plural):—
| exterus, outward; | exterior, outer; | extrēmus (ex timus), outmost |
| īnforus, below (see § 111. b); | īnferior, lower; | īnfimus ( īmus), lowest. |
| posterus, following; | posterior, latter; | postrēmus (pos tumus), last. |
| superus, above; | superior, higher; | suprēmus or sum mus, highest |
But the plurals, exterī, foreigners; īnferī, the gods below; posterī, posterity, superī, the heavenly gods, are common.
J. H. Allen and J. B. Greenough, New Latin Grammar (Boston: Ginn, 1903). Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.