semivir

semivir

Latin

Etymology

From semi- (“half”) +‎ vir (“man”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈseː.mi.u̯ir/, [ˈs̠eːmiu̯ɪr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈse.mi.vir/, [ˈsɛːmivir]

Noun

sēmivir m (genitive sēmivirī); second declension

1. a half-man, semihomo
2. half man and half beast, e.g., the centaur Chiron
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.379-380:

     Nocte minus quārtā prōmet sua sīdera Chīrōn
     sēmivir et flāvī corpore mixtus equī.

     [One] less [than] the fourth night, Chiron will bring forth his stars:
     a half-man, and joined with the body of a tawny horse.
     (See: Centaur; Chiron; Centaurus.)

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -r).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sēmivir	sēmivirī
Genitive	sēmivirī	sēmivirōrum
Dative	sēmivirō	sēmivirīs
Accusative	sēmivirum	sēmivirōs
Ablative	sēmivirō	sēmivirīs
Vocative	sēmivir	sēmivirī

References

• “semivir”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• semivir in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette