lacus

See also: lāčus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *lakus, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“lake, pool”). Cognate with Ancient Greek λάκκος (lákkos, “cistern, tank, pit”) and Old English lagu (“sea, ocean, flood”). More at lay.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.kus/, [ˈɫ̪äkʊs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈla.kus/, [ˈläːkus]

Noun

lacus m (genitive lacūs); fourth declension

a lake, pond, basin; reservoir
a tank, tub, sink, vat, wine-vat
- 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.558:
  inque cavōs ierant tertia musta lacūs
  and three times had the must been poured into the hollow wine-vats
  (The Latin word lacus, meaning ‘‘hollow’’ or ‘‘lake’’, also described a container used in ancient winemaking. See also mustum and must.)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -ubus).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lacus	lacūs
Genitive	lacūs	lacuum
Dative	lacuī	lacubus
Accusative	lacum	lacūs
Ablative	lacū	lacubus
Vocative	lacus	lacūs

Hyponyms

Lacūs Magnī

Derived terms

laculātus
lacūna
lacusculus

Descendants

Aragonese: laco
Aromanian: lac
Asturian: llagu
Kabuverdianu: lagu
Catalan: llac
Dalmatian: lac
Emilian: lèg
Esperanto: lago
Old French: lai
→? Old French: lac
- Middle French: lac
  - → Middle English: lac
  - French: lac
  - Norman: lac (Jersey)
Friulian: lâc
Galician: lago
Italian: lago
Ligurian: lâgo
Maltese: lag
Occitan: lac
Papiamentu: lago
Portuguese: lago
Romanian: lac
Romansch: lai
Sardinian: lagu
Sicilian: lacu
Spanish: lago
Venetian: łago

References

“lacus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“lacus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
lacus 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)
lacus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
“lacus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“lacus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin