tonsillae
Latin
Alternative forms
- tōsillae
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *tonslis, from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch, to extend”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /tonˈsil.lae̯/, [t̪õːˈs̠ɪlːʲäe̯]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /tonˈsil.le/, [t̪onˈsilːe]
Noun
tōnsillae f pl (genitive tōnsillārum); first declension
- inflection of tōnsilla:
- genitive/dative singular
- nominative/vocative plural
- (anatomy) the tonsils
- c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 11.175:
- Tonsillae in homine, in sue glandulae. quod inter eas uvae nomine ultimo dependet palato, homini tantum est.
- Man has tonsils, the pig glands. Man alone has what is called the uvula hanging from the back of the palate between the tonsils.
- Tonsillae in homine, in sue glandulae. quod inter eas uvae nomine ultimo dependet palato, homini tantum est.
Inflection
First-declension noun, plural only.
Case | Plural |
---|---|
Nominative | tōnsillae |
Genitive | tōnsillārum |
Dative | tōnsillīs |
Accusative | tōnsillās |
Ablative | tōnsillīs |
Vocative | tōnsillae |
Descendants
- → French: tonsille sg
- → English: tonsil
References
- “tonsilla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Ernout, Alfred; Meillet, Antoine (1985), “tonsillae”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), with additions and corrections of Jacques André, 4th edition, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 693
- “tonsillae”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers