lituus
English
Etymology
From Latin
Noun
lituus (plural litui)
- A military trumpet.
- 1786: Fig. 3. A Roman Lituus, or military trumpet, such as is mentioned by Horace in his first ode. — Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page vi.
- An augur's staff with a recurved top.
- (geometry) A curve with polar equation , where a is a constant.
Related terms
- lituate
- lituiform
Further reading
- Mathworld article on the geometrical lituus
Latin
Etymology
From Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *(e)lAi- (“to bend”)[1]. Compare English lith and German Glied (“limb”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈli.tu.us/, [ˈlɪ.tʊ.ʊs]
Noun
lituus m (genitive lituī); second declension
- a military trumpet
- a curved staff
Declension
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | lituus | lituī |
| Genitive | lituī | lituōrum |
| Dative | lituō | lituīs |
| Accusative | lituum | lituōs |
| Ablative | lituō | lituīs |
| Vocative | litue | lituī |
Derived terms
- liticen
References
- lituus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- lituus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- lituus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- lituus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- lituus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
- Pokorny, Julius (1959), “ĕl-ĕq-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume I, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 308-309