Philosophus libidinem vitat.

Because philosophus is in the nominative singular, the form typically used for the subject of the sentence.

• philosophus = the philosopher / a philosopher
• It is a second-declension masculine noun
• Its basic dictionary form is also philosophus

Here, it is the one doing the action.

Because libidinem is in the accusative singular, the case used for the direct object.

• libido = nominative singular, meaning desire, passion, lust
• libidinem = accusative singular, meaning desire/passion/lust as the thing being acted on

So in this sentence, libidinem is what the philosopher avoids.

Latin usually shows that through case endings, not mainly through word order.

• philosophus is nominative → subject
• libidinem is accusative → direct object

So even if the order changed, the endings would still tell you that the philosopher is avoiding desire, not the other way around.

vitat is:

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

It comes from the verb vito, vitare, meaning to avoid or to shun.

So vitat means he/she/it avoids.
Because the subject is philosophus, we understand it as the philosopher avoids.

Latin normally has no articles like English the or a/an.

So philosophus can mean:

• the philosopher
• a philosopher

Which one sounds best depends on context. The same is true for many Latin nouns.

Yes. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings carry so much information.

These would all basically mean the same thing:

• Philosophus libidinem vitat.
• Libidinem philosophus vitat.
• Vitat philosophus libidinem.

However, changing the order can change the emphasis.
For example, putting libidinem first may highlight desire.

Related, yes, but not always identical in nuance.

In Latin, libido can mean things like:

• desire
• passion
• craving
• lust
• sometimes even caprice or uncontrolled impulse

So in a sentence like this, it may suggest not just sexual desire, but strong appetite or passion, especially in a moral or philosophical sense.

Latin often puts the verb at the end, and here it does: vitat.
But this is a tendency, not an absolute rule.

This sentence follows a very common Latin pattern:

• subject: philosophus
• object: libidinem
• verb: vitat

That is a very natural and textbook-style Latin word order.

They are usually listed like this:

• philosophus, philosophi — philosopher
• libido, libidinis — desire, passion, lust
• vito, vitare — avoid, shun

For nouns, Latin dictionaries usually give:

• the nominative singular
• the genitive singular

Those help you identify the noun’s declension and stem.

Third-declension nouns are a very mixed group, and their nominative forms can vary a lot.
What matters is the genitive singular:

• libido
• libidinis

That -inis genitive shows it belongs to the third declension.
From the stem libidin-, you get the accusative singular libidinem.

A common classroom pronunciation would be roughly:

phi-LO-so-phus li-BI-di-nem WI-tat

More classically:

• philosophus → phi-LO-so-phus
• libidinem → li-BI-di-nem
• vitat → WEE-tat or WI-tat, depending on pronunciation system

A few useful notes:

• ph is pronounced like a strong p with breath in restored classical pronunciation
• v in classical pronunciation is like English w
• stress usually falls according to syllable length rules; here learners commonly stress LO, BI, and the first syllable of vitat

The present tense in Latin can cover several ideas depending on context, including:

• is avoiding
• avoids
• does avoid

In a sentence like this, especially with a noun like philosophus, it often sounds like a general statement or habitual truth:

A philosopher avoids desire
or
The philosopher avoids desire

Grammatically, philosophus is a masculine noun, so it normally refers to a male philosopher.

If Latin wanted to refer specifically to a female philosopher, it would typically use a different form, such as philosopha in later or less classical usage. In standard classical Latin, masculine forms are far more common for this word.

So in this sentence, learners usually understand philosophus as a male philosopher.

A very literal breakdown is:

• Philosophus = philosopher
• libidinem = desire / lust
• vitat = avoids

So the structure is:

Philosopher desire avoids

Then natural English rearranges it as:

The philosopher avoids desire
or
A philosopher avoids desire