Fax nocte lucet.

Fax is nominative singular. It is the subject because Latin normally puts the subject in the nominative case, and the verb lucet is singular, so it matches a singular subject.

The dictionary form is fax, facis:

• nominative singular: fax
• genitive singular: facis

So in this sentence, fax means torch as the one doing the shining.

This is a normal feature of many third-declension nouns. In the third declension, the nominative singular often looks different from the stem used in the other cases.

For fax, facis:

• nominative singular: fax
• stem: fac-
• genitive singular: facis

A learner cannot always predict the stem from the nominative alone, which is why Latin dictionaries usually give both the nominative and the genitive.

Lucet is:

• present tense
• indicative mood
• active voice
• third person singular

It comes from luceo, lucere, meaning to shine or to give light.

So lucet means he/she/it shines or is shining. Here, since the subject is fax, it means it shines.

In Latin, -t is the usual ending for a third-person singular verb in the present tense.

For example:

• luceo = I shine
• luces = you shine
• lucet = he/she/it shines

Because fax is one thing, the verb must be singular, so lucet is the correct form.

Nocte is the ablative singular of nox, noctis, meaning night.

Here it is an example of the ablative of time when, which tells you when something happens. So nocte means:

• at night
• by night

Latin often uses the ablative without a preposition for expressions of time when.

Because Latin often does not use a preposition with expressions of time when.

So Latin says:

• nocte = at night
• die = by day / in the day
• prima luce = at first light

English usually needs a preposition such as at or in, but Latin often does not.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical roles.

So all of these could express basically the same idea:

• Fax nocte lucet
• Fax lucet nocte
• Nocte fax lucet

The version Fax nocte lucet is perfectly normal. Putting lucet at the end is especially common in Latin. The position of nocte may give a slight emphasis to the time, but the basic meaning stays the same.

Classical Latin does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

So fax can mean:

• a torch
• the torch

The context tells you which is meant. In a simple sentence like this, either English translation may be possible depending on the situation.

Not always. Fax can mean a torch or firebrand, and in some contexts it can have more specialized or figurative meanings, such as a wedding torch.

But in a basic sentence like Fax nocte lucet, the most natural understanding is simply a literal torch.

In a Classical Latin pronunciation, you could say it roughly as:

fahks NOK-teh LOO-ket

A few details:

• x sounds like ks
• c in nocte and lucet is always a hard k in Classical Latin
• nocte has two syllables: noc-te
• lucet has two syllables: lu-cet

So the whole sentence has a clear, crisp sound: fahks NOK-teh LOO-ket.