Cupiditas pecuniae mercatorem caecum facit.

A quick breakdown is:

• cupiditas = desire, greed, longing
• pecuniae = of money
• mercatorem = merchant, trader (as a direct object)
• caecum = blind
• facit = makes

So the structure is:

• cupiditas pecuniae = desire of money / greed for money
• mercatorem caecum facit = makes the merchant blind

Latin often shows each word’s role through its ending rather than by fixed word order.

Because cupiditas is in the nominative singular, which is the case usually used for the subject of the sentence.

Also, facit is third person singular = he/she/it makes, so it needs a singular subject. Cupiditas fits perfectly:

• cupiditas = nominative singular
• facit = singular verb

So cupiditas is the thing doing the action: greed is making someone blind.

Pecuniae is genitive singular of pecunia (money). The genitive often expresses of.

So:

• cupiditas pecuniae = desire of money

In smoother English, that becomes:

• desire for money
• greed for money
• sometimes simply greed

This is a very common Latin pattern: a noun followed by a genitive noun that limits or defines it.

Yes, that is a good way to understand it.

With nouns of desire, love, fear, memory, and so on, the genitive can express the object of that feeling or attitude. Here, money is what the desire is directed toward.

So:

• cupiditas pecuniae = desire for money

That is often called an objective genitive, because money is the object of the desire.

Because it is the direct object of facit.

The verb facere means to make or to do. In this sentence, greed is making the merchant something. The person being acted on is the direct object:

• mercator = merchant
• mercatorem = merchant as direct object

So greed is acting on the merchant.

Because with facere meaning to make, Latin often uses:

• object + predicate adjective

Here:

• mercatorem = the object
• caecum = what the object is made to be

So caecum agrees with mercatorem in:

• case: accusative
• number: singular
• gender: masculine

That is why it is caecum, not caecus.

Because caecus would be nominative masculine singular, but here the adjective describes mercatorem, which is accusative masculine singular.

Adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe. So:

• nominative: mercator caecus = the blind merchant
• accusative: mercatorem caecum = the blind merchant / the merchant blind

In this sentence, the merchant is the object of facit, so the adjective must also be accusative: caecum.

Here facit means makes in the sense of causes to become.

The pattern is:

• someone/something
  • object
    • adjective
      • facit

So:

• Cupiditas pecuniae mercatorem caecum facit
• Greed for money makes the merchant blind

Latin uses this construction very naturally with facere. English does something similar:

• The news made him sad
• Work made her tired
• Greed makes the merchant blind

So the structure is not very different from English, even though the Latin endings are more visible.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

English depends heavily on position:

• Greed makes the merchant blind

Latin depends more on endings:

• cupiditas = subject
• mercatorem = object
• caecum = adjective agreeing with the object
• facit = verb

Since the endings already show the grammar, Latin can arrange words for style, emphasis, or rhythm.

Yes, very often.

For example, these would still mean essentially the same thing:

• Mercatorem cupiditas pecuniae caecum facit
• Cupiditas mercatorem pecuniae caecum facit
• Caecum mercatorem cupiditas pecuniae facit

But some orders sound more natural or more elegant than others. The original order is clear and balanced.

Even when the order changes, the endings still tell you the grammatical roles.

Cupiditas is a third-declension noun.

Its dictionary form would normally be:

• cupiditas, cupiditatis (f.) = desire, passion, greed

Important forms include:

• nominative singular: cupiditas
• genitive singular: cupiditatis

It is feminine, but that does not mean it refers to a female person. Grammatical gender in Latin is not the same thing as biological sex.

Mercatorem comes from mercator, mercatoris (m.), a third-declension noun meaning merchant or trader.

Here are the key forms:

• nominative singular: mercator
• accusative singular: mercatorem

Since it is the direct object of facit, the accusative form is used.

It can vary by context.

Cupiditas can mean:

• desire
• eagerness
• longing
• passion
• greed

In this sentence, because it is linked with money and causes blindness, the negative sense is stronger. So greed or greedy desire is probably the best understanding.

Because Latin often uses the genitive where English uses of or for.

English says:

• desire for money

Latin can say:

• cupiditas pecuniae

So instead of a preposition, Latin simply puts pecunia into the genitive form pecuniae.

This is a very common difference between Latin and English.