falx

English

Etymology

From Latin falx (“sickle”). Doublet of dalk.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fælks/, /fɔlks/

Audio (southern England) (file)
Audio (southern England) (file)
Rhymes: -ælks, -ɔlks

Noun

falx (plural falxes or falces)

(historical) A short Dacian sword resembling a sickle.
Any sickle-shaped part or process.
1. (anatomy) A curved fold or process of the dura mater or the peritoneum, especially one of the partition-like folds of the dura mater which extend into the great fissures of the brain.
2. (anatomy, dated) A chelicera.
3. (anatomy) A snake's poison fang.
4. (anatomy) A rotula of a sea urchin.

Derived terms

falcial
falx cerebri
falx cerebelli

Anagrams

Flax, flax

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰelk-, *dʰelg- (“a cutting tool”). Cognate with Old Irish delg (“thorn, needle”), Old English dalc (“a pin, brooch, bracelet”). More at dalk.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /falks/, [fäɫ̪ks̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /falks/, [fälks]

Noun

falx f (genitive falcis); third declension

sickle, scythe
(military) a hook used to pull down walls

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	falx	falcēs
Genitive	falcis	falcium
Dative	falcī	falcibus
Accusative	falcem	falcēs falcīs
Ablative	falce	falcibus
Vocative	falx	falcēs

Derived terms

falcastrum
falcifer

Descendants

Aragonese: falz
Aromanian: falcã, falche
Asturian: foz, fouz, foiz
Catalan: falç
Emilian: fèlz
→ English: falx
Fala: foici
Friulian: fals
Italian: falce
Ladin: fauc
Lombard: falc, folcc
Mirandese: fouce
Neapolitan: falcè
Old French: fauz
- French: faux
  - Karipúna Creole French: fos
- Picard: feuque
- Walloon: foque (obsolete)
Old Occitan: fals
- Occitan: falç, fauç, haus, fâ
Old Portuguese: fouce
- Galician: fouce
- Portuguese: foice, fouce
Romanian: falcă, falce
Romansch: faulsch
Sardinian: falche, falle, farche, farci, frache, fraci
Sicilian: fauci
Spanish: hoz
Venetian: falẑ
⇒ Vulgar Latin: falcicla
- French: faucille
- Norman: faûcil'ye (Jersey)
- Piedmontese: faussìa
- Sicilian: faucigghia
>? Vulgar Latin: falcina
- → Albanian: felqinë

References

“falx”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“falx”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
falx in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
falx in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
“falx”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“falx”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary
Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “falx”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 404
Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911), “falx”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 239

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin falx.

Noun

falx n (plural falxuri)

falx

Declension

Declension of falx

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) falx	falxul	(niște) falxuri	falxurile
genitive/dative	(unui) falx	falxului	(unor) falxuri	falxurilor
vocative	falxule		falxurilor

References

falx in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN