scirpus

See also: Scirpus

Latin

Alternative forms

sirpus (rare)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerbʰ- (“to turn (around), wind”), cognate with corbis (basket), Ancient Greek κάρφος (kárphos), Old Church Slavonic крабии (krabij): Russian коробка (korobka, “box”), Czech krabice.

The figurative sense derives from the plaiting of rushes to make intricate patterns.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈskir.pus/, [ˈs̠kɪrpʊs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈʃir.pus/, [ˈʃirpus]

Noun

scirpus m (genitive scirpī); second declension

a rush, bulrush
(figuratively) riddle, enigma

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	scirpus	scirpī
Genitive	scirpī	scirpōrum
Dative	scirpō	scirpīs
Accusative	scirpum	scirpōs
Ablative	scirpō	scirpīs
Vocative	scirpe	scirpī

Derived terms

nōdum in scirpō quaerere
scirpea
scirpeus
scirpiculus
scirpō
scirpula

Descendants

French: scirpe
Italian: scirpo
Sicilian: scirpu
Translingual: Scirpus

References

“scirpus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“scirpus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
scirpus 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)
scirpus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette