See also: Corvus
English
Etymology
From Latin corvus (“crow”), named for the resemblance to a crow's beak.
Noun
corvus (plural corvuses or corvi)
- (historical) A hooked ram for destroying walls.
- (historical) A grappling hook in Ancient Roman naval warfare.
- Synonym: harpago
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *korwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorh₂wós, from a root *ḱorh₂- (“crow, raven”), imitative of harsh sounds; see cornīx (“crow”) for more.[1] The word has been decomposed as from *ḱer- (compare Latin crepō (“to creak, crack”), Sanskrit कृपते (kṛ́pate, “he laments, implores”)) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus).
This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. Particularly: “Sense “gangplank”: due to the front being pointed and resembling a beak?”
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈkɔr.wʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈkɔr.vus]
Noun
corvus m (genitive corvī); second declension
- A raven; a bird associated with prophecy and sacred to Apollo.
- (nautical) A gangplank, used in Roman naval combat for boarding enemy ships.
- (Can we verify() this sense?) A battering ram.
- Synonym: grūs
Declension
Second-declension noun.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | corvus | corvī |
| genitive | corvī | corvōrum |
| dative | corvō | corvīs |
| accusative | corvum | corvōs |
| ablative | corvō | corvīs |
| vocative | corve | corvī |
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Descendants
- Borrowings
See also
Corvus (boarding device) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “corvus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 139
Further reading
- “corvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “corvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “corvus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “corvus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “corvus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
- “corvus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin