nucunculus
Latin
Etymology
From nux (“nut”) + -unculus (diminutive suffix).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /nuˈkun.ku.lus/, [nʊˈkʊŋkʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /nuˈkun.ku.lus/, [nuˈkuŋkulus]
Noun
nucunculus m (genitive nucunculī); second declension
- (hapax) Diminutive of nux
Usage notes
This word is a hapax legomenon that is only attested in a table of Tironian notes (shorthand abbreviations). Because of this, we do not know in what context it was used, and therefore do not know its exact meaning. According to Lewis and Short, it might refer to a type of nut-cake (compare lucunculus and lībācunculus).
Declension
Second-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | nucunculus | nucunculī |
| Genitive | nucunculī | nucunculōrum |
| Dative | nucunculō | nucunculīs |
| Accusative | nucunculum | nucunculōs |
| Ablative | nucunculō | nucunculīs |
| Vocative | nucuncule | nucunculī |
References
- “nucunculus”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- nucunculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- Schmitz, Wilhelm (editor). 1893. Commentarii notarum tironianarum cum prolegomenis adnotationibus criticis et exegeticis notarumque indice alphabetico. Commentarii IV. Cap. III. IV., tab. 109 (Gr. 176, 177), nota 33.