-cus

-cus

See also: cus, CUs, cuś, and čus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-kos, *-ḱos. Cognate with Ancient Greek -κός (-kós), Proto-Germanic *-gaz, Sanskrit शस (śasa) and Old Church Slavonic -ъкъ (-ŭkŭ).

PIE *-ko- on noun stems carried the meaning 'characteristic of, like, typical, pertaining to', and on adjectival stems it acted emphatically.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kus/, [kʊs]

Suffix

-cus m (feminine -ca, neuter -cum); first/second declension

1. suffixed to nouns, forms adjectives

   juvenis + -cus → juvencus

   Mārs + -cus → Mār(t)cus

   ravis + -cus → raucus

This suffix survives in inherited forms and became productive through its derivations (cf. infra) by metanalysis.

Declension

First/second declension.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-cus	-ca	-cum		-cī	-cae	-ca
Genitive	-cī	-cae	-cī		-cōrum	-cārum	-cōrum
Dative	-cō	-cae	-cō		-cīs	-cīs	-cīs
Accusative	-cum	-cam	-cum		-cōs	-cās	-ca
Ablative	-cō	-cā	-cō		-cīs	-cīs	-cīs
Vocative	-ce	-ca	-cum		-cī	-cae	-ca

Derived terms

• -icus
  • -ticus
    • -āticus
• -īcus
  • -īcius

► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Latin_words_suffixed_with_-cus' title='Category:Latin words suffixed with -cus'>Latin words suffixed with -cus</a>

References

• “-cus” on page 478/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)