ecce
Look!
Ecce means look or behold.
How It Works
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Ecce Roma! | Look, Rome! |
| Ecce puer! | Look, a boy! |
| Ecce Agnus Dei! | Behold the Lamb of God! |
| Ecce homo! | Behold the man! |
A speaker uses it to show something right there: Ecce Roma! can be said by someone who sees the city at last.
Ecce sounds like EK-keh in classical Latin and like ET-cheh in Church Latin.
Writers also use ecce in stories to announce something sudden: et ecce (and behold). You will meet that in the Vulgate.
At Mass the same words present the host to the people: Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi (Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world).
Examples (4)
- Ecce Roma!
Look, Rome!
Roma is nominative.
- Ecce puer et puella!
Look, a boy and a girl!
Both nouns after ecce are nominative.
- Ecce Agnus Dei!
Behold the Lamb of God!
The words of John the Baptist (John 1:29), which the priest says again at Mass.
- Ecce homo!
Behold the man!
Pilate says this in the Gospel of John.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Ecce points at something named in the nominative, so the nominative comes first.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
Practice ecce in Bubblegum
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