Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges, PART FIRST — WORDS AND FORMS, COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES, Defective Comparison, chapter 131

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[*] 131. Several adjectives lack the Comparative or the Superlative:—

[*] a. The Comparative is rare or wanting in the following:—

bellus ,	inclutus (or inclitus ),	novus ,
caesius ,	invictus ,	pius ,
falsus ,	invītus ,	sacer ,
fīdus (with its compounds),	meritus ,	vafer.

[*] b. The Superlative is wanting in many adjectives in -ilis or -bilis (as, agilis, probābilis), and in the following:—

āctuōsus	exīlis	prōclīvis	surdus
agrestis	ingēns	propinquus	taciturnus
alacer	iēiūnus	satur	tempestīvus
arcānus	longinquus	sēgnis	teres
caecus	oblīquus	sērus	vīcīnus
diūturnus	opīmus	supīnus

[*] c. From iuvenis, youth, senex, old man (cf. § 122. d), are formed the comparatives iūnior, younger, senior, older. For these, however, minor nātū and mâior nātū are sometimes used ( nātū being often omitted).

The superlative is regularly expressed by minimus and maximus , with or without nātū .

[*] Note.--In these phrases nātū is ablative of specification (see § 418).

[*] d. Many adjectives (as aureus, golden) are from their meaning incapable of comparison.

[*] Note.--But each language has its own usage in this respect. Thus, niger, glossy black. and candidus, shining white, are compared; but not āter or albus , meaning absolute dead black or white (except that Plautus once has ātrior ).

Ginn and Company, 1903.

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