probably Trader Defence Navy/Network.

well, if the devs won't tell us....

To Dah Nukes!

network

network

network!

Ok, Trader Denfense Network.

"Broadcasting enemy defeat and Trader victory since initiation."

But as for the Latin idea...

Terrestris Defensionis Navis.

"Ship of Terran Defense."

wouldnt it be naves? ships? and is defensionus even a word? or do you not even speak a word of latin, and just found a website to do it for you?

how bout battleships? they're all gone now, but they were staples of fleets for 100 years

 edit: well that didnt work too well

There's one glitch I'm finding with the TDN = Trader Defense Network/Navy thing (please note, I'm leaning more towards "Navy" than "Network") - now this is just my personal opinion, but just hear me out...

Most ships that have a "insert acronym designation here" beginning these days seem to have the ending of "S" on most ships:  British are HMS, USA is USS - for "Ship," in both instances.  Granted, during WWII, the ships of the Japanese Navy were designated IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy), but still...

Even though it's called the "Trader Emergency Coalition," most/all of its members are human.  I'm thinking it could be along the lines of "Terran Defense Navy," or "Terran..."

*interrupts self*

...Wait..."Terran DIPLOMATIC Navy?"

Oh, Ironclad, you sly dogs, you...;)

Of course, it could be just as likely the name is like the wedges of cheese in Perfect Dark for N64, which exist for no other reason to drive us insane as to their significance.

Navis is the singular, which is correct when considering a single ship. Naves, is plural.

Defensionis is singular genitive of defensio. Though it has more of a legal connotation, it still would be acceptable.

Non loquor Latina, sed possum legere. De tua scientia, scisne Latina? Aut me accusas modo, sine sciens?

this is true. since i was thinking in terms of Trader/Terran Defense Navy, didnt consider that it should be singluar.

Neque loquor neque scribo, sed lego. (btw, there's no verb in your last sentence)

Well, I'm thinking that since it is only the Capital ships which have the prefix acronym of TDN, that it may only apply to the individual ship. Navis just means "ship" and naves "ships".

The last sentence I used a verb participle, sciens, which I think would mean "knowing". Otherwise, I'd just be repeating scientia. Would "sine habes scientiam" work better? I've only studied Wheelocks on my own as of last year, but I try to keep the knowledge fresh because it is a really cool language.

participles are not verbs, they are adjectives. so yes, sine habes scientiam works better. if you want to be technical, sine scientiam habes is correct, but word order isnt the biggest deal in Latin. alternately, you could say sine sciens es

Have you taken Latin in school or college or on your own?

i'm taking latin right now, in school

SOOOOO YEAH TDN.

Could mean Trader or Terran but seeing as usually a nation gives their naval ships acronyms that represent that nation, Im leaning towards Trader.

Heres an excerpt from the description of the Sova.

"Having proven to be an effective countermeasure to pirate incursions, strike craft have been a staple of planetary defense forces for hundreds of years."

Now this doesnt definitively prove anything. But the fact that the TO didnt ask for this war (outside of kicking the Advent out) and they consider the ships tasked with protecting individual planets from pirates prior to the war "defensive forces". Im willing to bet they refer to the TEC's forces now as defensive forces. As they see themselves as defending their way of life.

Now I know the TO is our decendants but, they are in the future where things will be different. And as its been mentioned earlier the Japanese used the acronym IJN ( Imperial Japanese Navy) if no ones noticed, IMPERIAL Japan...........................Sins of a Solar EMPIRE.  Not saying thats our answer. But maybe that could be where the Devs got the idea for the N.

i dont think terran makes much sense, because generally, Terra/Terran refers to Earth

edit: and there is no earth in Sins. or, at least, no mention of it. makes sense that it has been lost/destroyed

I think that's a bit of a large assumption, eon. Planets don't typically just get lost or destroyed. Turned into industrial wasteland and abandoned, sure... but I'm sure they'd remember where it was (it'd make a good site for dumping further waste on :-P).

Not really Itharus, many a sci-fi writer has theorized such an idea (Issac Asimov, Foundation Series is one) and considering how much info we have lost it is not beyond the realm of possiblity.  A complete systematic break down of an earth-centric empire leaving the planet earth regulated to fairy tales could happen in the future. Admittedly there is no proof that such a thing happened in ths Sins lore but there is no proof that such a thing has not.

As Ryat said, there's no proof of Earth or the absence of Earth in Sins lore, but I believe that the TEC (and Advent, as they are distant relatives to the TEC) have forgotten the location of Earth. It's like moving into a new house. When you return back to where you used to live after a while you might remember the general area of the house you used to live in, but not the exact location. And so on and so on until you can't find it at all. And that's assuming they were looking for Earth. My belief, which I've expressed in my idea of the origin of the TEC and Advent, was that the Traders left Earth and never looked back.

exactly what i was thinking. way to be mind-readers

No link to Earth except for the Earth-like planets being called "Terran" planets.

It's not letting me quote, for some reason, but to the post a few back:  A participle is a verbal adjective, which can also function as a noun, in the sense that any adjective can stand for a noun.  You'd need a gerrund in the ablative, as it functions as an actual noun in that construction, as sine is a preposition that takes the ablative.  In any case, yes, it should be navis, not naves, for the same reason it's United States Ship and not United States Ships.

oh. i was reading sive, which is "or if." hence my acknowledgement of sine habes scientiam working. participles can be ablative, but only if the thing it is agreeing with is ablative. in this case, you are right. so, it would be scienda, yes? (with a macron) (my gerund/gerundive knowledge is a little fuzzy).

on topic, numeriarius makes a good point, but wouldnt using terran offend the people who dont live on terran planets?

not really if terran was only a simple desrciptive term, its like say 'white' car