cervus

See also: Cervus

Latin

cervī (stags)

Alternative forms

cervos

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) (whence English horn, hirn, Latin cornū (“horn”)) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus).

Cognate with Welsh carw (“deer”), Greek κεραός (keraós, “horned”). The first-syllable e was likely taken from the PIE root noun *ḱerh₂s (“horn”) (itself eventually lost in Latin), while the shift in meaning from 'horned' to 'deer' may be common Italo-Celtic.[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈker.u̯us/, [ˈkɛru̯ʊs̠]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.vus/, [ˈt͡ʃɛrvus]

Noun

cervus m (genitive cervī); second declension

deer, stag
(by extension) forked stakes
(military) cheval de frise

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cervus	cervī
Genitive	cervī	cervōrum
Dative	cervō	cervīs
Accusative	cervum	cervōs
Ablative	cervō	cervīs
Vocative	cerve	cervī

Derived terms

cerva
cervārius
cervīna
cervīnus
cervula
cervulus

Descendants

Aragonese: ciervo
Aromanian: tserbu
Asturian: ciervu
Catalan: cervo ⇒ cérvol
Corsican: cervu
Esperanto: cervo
French: cerf
Friulian: cierf
Galician: cervo
Italian: cervo
Ladin: cerf
Lombard: cèrf
Occitan: cèrvi
Picard: cherfe
Portuguese: cervo
Romanian: cerb
Romansch: tschierv
Sardinian: cherbu, chervu, cerbu
Sicilian: cervu
Spanish: ciervo
Tourangeau: çarh
Venetian: cervo
Walloon: cier

References

De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

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

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN