caecus
Latin
Alternative forms
- coecus (misspelling)
- cēcus (in manuscripts)
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *kaikos (“blind, eyeless”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ikos (“one-eyed”). Cognates include Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (haihs), Old Irish cáech (“one-eyed”), caoch (“blind”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkae̯.kus/, [ˈkäe̯kʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃe.kus/, [ˈt͡ʃɛːkus]
Adjective
caecus (feminine caeca, neuter caecum); first/second-declension adjective
- Having no light, devoid of light.
- (active voice):
- (literally) Not seeing, blind.
- (figurative) Mentally or morally blind; blinded.
- (figurative) Blind, i.e. at random, vague, indiscriminate, aimless, meaningless, acting blindly
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.209–210:
- “[...] caecīque in nūbibus ignēs / terrificant animōs et inānia murmura miscent?”
- “And [why do] aimless fires in the clouds terrify [our] spirits, and [their] meaningless murmurs unsettle [us]?”
(King Iarbas dares to question whether lightning and thunder truly signify Jupiter’s disapproval of human affairs.)
- “And [why do] aimless fires in the clouds terrify [our] spirits, and [their] meaningless murmurs unsettle [us]?”
- “[...] caecīque in nūbibus ignēs / terrificant animōs et inānia murmura miscent?”
- (transferred sense, botany) Without buds or eyes.
- (passive voice):
- (neutral voice):
Inflection
First/second-declension adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | caecus | caeca | caecum | caecī | caecae | caeca | |
Genitive | caecī | caecae | caecī | caecōrum | caecārum | caecōrum | |
Dative | caecō | caecō | caecīs | ||||
Accusative | caecum | caecam | caecum | caecōs | caecās | caeca | |
Ablative | caecō | caecā | caecō | caecīs | |||
Vocative | caece | caeca | caecum | caecī | caecae | caeca |
Derived terms
- caecum (noun)
- caecutiō
Descendants
Descendants of caecus in other languages
- Aragonese: ziego
- Asturian: ciegu
- → English: caecum
- Old French: cieu, ciu, cé, ci
- → French: cæcum
- Italian: cieco
- Northern Italo-Romance:
- Romagnol: cig (San Marino)
- Old Occitan:
- Old Galician-Portuguese: cego
- Romanian: ceață
- Sardinian:
- Campidanese: tzegu
- Logudorese: tzegu
- Nuorese: tzecu
- Old Spanish: ciego
- Spanish: ciego
References
- “caecus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- caecus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- Fortune makes men shortsighted, infatuates them: fortuna caecos homines efficit, animos occaecat
- (ambiguous) to have no principles: caeco impetu ferri
- Fortune makes men shortsighted, infatuates them: fortuna caecos homines efficit, animos occaecat
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