DCC Latin Core Vocabulary
The Dickinson College Commentaries (DCC) Latin Core Vocabulary: ~1,000 words in 3 frequency bands, covering 70-80% of any typical Latin text. With Anki deck info.
The DCC Latin Core Vocabulary (compiled by Christopher Francese at Dickinson College, 2012–13) is the gold standard frequency-based vocabulary list for Latin learners.
About the DCC Core
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Total words | ~1,000 headwords (lemmas) |
| Compiled by | Christopher Francese, Dickinson College |
| Year | 2012–13 |
| Coverage | 91% of Caesar's Gallic War; 81% of Virgil's Aeneid |
| Coverage (general) | 70–80% of word forms in typical Latin text |
| Available as | Anki deck, physical book, web list, practice tool |
| Official URL | dcc.dickinson.edu/latin-core-list1 |
| Core Latin and Ancient Greek Vocabularies (ISBN 978-1-947822-06-1) | |
| Practice | milagathos.com/exercisesCoreLatinVocabularyDCC |
Three Frequency Bands
| Band | Words | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Band 1 | 1–200 | Highest frequency — learn first |
| Band 2 | 201–500 | High frequency — learn second |
| Band 3 | 501–1,000 | Extended core — complete the list |
Target: Learn Band 1 by end of Novice level; Bands 1–2 by Intermediate; all 1,000 by Advanced.
Sample High-Frequency Words (Band 1 Sample)
These words appear on virtually every page of Latin prose:
| Latin | Part of Speech | English |
|---|---|---|
| et | conjunction | and |
| in | preposition | in, on; into (+ acc.) |
| est | verb | is (3rd sg. of esse) |
| quī, quae, quod | relative pronoun | who, which, that |
| non | adverb | not |
| cum | conjunction/prep. | when, since, with |
| ad | preposition | to, toward, near (+ acc.) |
| sed | conjunction | but |
| ex, ē | preposition | out of, from (+ abl.) |
| ab | preposition | from, by (+ abl.) |
| hic, haec, hoc | demonstrative | this; he/she/it |
| ille, illa, illud | demonstrative | that; he/she/it (famous) |
| sum, esse, fuī | verb | to be |
| possum, posse, potuī | verb | to be able, can |
| dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, dictum | verb | to say, speak |
| facio, facere, fēcī, factum | verb | to make, do |
| magnus, -a, -um | adjective | great, large |
| omnis, omne | adjective | all, every |
| meus, -a, -um | adjective | my, mine |
| suus, -a, -um | adjective | his/her/its/their own |
| res, reī, f. | noun | thing, matter, affair |
| vir, virī, m. | noun | man (male); hero |
| populus, -ī, m. | noun | people, nation |
| tempus, temporis, n. | noun | time |
| locus, -ī, m. | noun | place |
How to Use the DCC Core
Recommended Study Method (Anki)
- Download the DCC Core Vocabulary Anki deck from AnkiWeb (search "DCC Latin Core")
- Set up daily Anki sessions: 15–20 minutes per day
- Start with Band 1 (1–200); don't advance to Band 2 until Band 1 is strong
- When you encounter a DCC word in reading and don't recognize it, mark it in Anki for extra review
- Add example sentences from your reading to each card
Study Order
- Week 1–4: DCC 1–50 (function words, most common verbs and nouns)
- Month 2–3: DCC 51–200 (complete Band 1)
- Month 4–8: DCC 201–500 (Band 2)
- Month 9–18: DCC 501–1,000 (Band 3)
Combined with textbook study (LLPSI introduces ~1,800 words naturally through context), you will have a vocabulary that far exceeds the DCC 1,000 by the time you finish Familia Romana.
Beyond the DCC Core
After the 1,000 DCC words, vocabulary acquisition shifts from systematic (all frequencies) to text-specific (learning words that appear in the texts you're reading):
| Text | Additional vocab needed beyond DCC |
|---|---|
| Caesar Gallic War | ~300–400 military/geographic terms |
| Cicero speeches | ~400–500 legal/rhetorical terms |
| Virgil Aeneid | ~500–700 poetic/mythological terms |
| Tacitus | ~600–800 highly compressed/rare words |
Tool: The Dickinson College Commentaries provides text-specific vocabulary lists for Caesar, Tacitus Agricola, and other texts: dcc.dickinson.edu.