Afer
Latin
Etymology
The term is derived from a Punic or a Berber term for the country in which the city of Carthage was located. It is possibly derived from an ethnonym, a name of an indigenous tribe encountered by the Phoenician colonists, or perhaps related to Punic 𐤏𐤐𐤓 (ʿpr /ʿafar/, “dust”) akin to Biblical Hebrew עָפָר (ʿāp̄ār, “dust”), or alternatively from a Berber language ⵉⴼⵔⵉ (ifri, “cave”), denoting cave dwellers. Flavius Josephus derived the ethnonym from the name of Abraham's grandson, Epher. The name is perhaps related to the tribal name Ifran recorded by medieval Arab authors.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈaː.fer/, [ˈäːfɛr]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈa.fer/, [ˈäːfer]
Adjective
Āfer (feminine Āfra, neuter Āfrum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)
- from Africa (the region of modern-day Tunisia)
Declension
First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | Āfer | Āfra | Āfrum | Āfrī | Āfrae | Āfra | |
| Genitive | Āfrī | Āfrae | Āfrī | Āfrōrum | Āfrārum | Āfrōrum | |
| Dative | Āfrō | Āfrō | Āfrīs | ||||
| Accusative | Āfrum | Āfram | Āfrum | Āfrōs | Āfrās | Āfra | |
| Ablative | Āfrō | Āfrā | Āfrō | Āfrīs | |||
| Vocative | Āfer | Āfra | Āfrum | Āfrī | Āfrae | Āfra | |
Proper noun
Āfer m (genitive Āfrī); second declension
- (Roman Republic) a Carthaginian
- (Roman Empire) cognomen applied to a native of the province of Africa:
- Publius Terentius Afer, a Roman playwright
Declension
Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Āfer | Āfrī |
| Genitive | Āfrī | Āfrōrum |
| Dative | Āfrō | Āfrīs |
| Accusative | Āfrum | Āfrōs |
| Ablative | Āfrō | Āfrīs |
| Vocative | Āfer | Āfrī |
Derived terms
- Āfricus
- Āfricānus
- Āfrica
References
- “Afer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “Afer”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Afer in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette