auceps syllabarum
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Latin[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From auceps (“bird-catcher”) + syllabārum (“of syllables”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈau̯.keps syl.laˈbaː.rum/, [ˈäu̯kɛps̠ s̠ʏlːʲäˈbäːrʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈau̯.t͡ʃeps sil.laˈba.rum/, [ˈäːu̯t͡ʃeps silːäˈbäːrum]
Noun[edit]
auceps syllabārum m (genitive aucupis syllabārum); third declension
- (derogatory, humorous, hapax) a person who quibbles over words, argues over semantics or other technicalities; a pettifogger
- 55 BCE, Cicero, De Oratore 1.236.7:
- Ita est tibi iūris cōnsultus ipse per sē nihil nisi lēguleius quīdam cautus et acūtus, praecō āctiōnum, cantor fōrmulārum, auceps syllabārum.
- And as a result, a lawyer in and of himself ends up being merely some kind of diligent and shrewd legal tradesman, a crier of legal actions, a singer of legal formulas, a trapper of syllables.
- Ita est tibi iūris cōnsultus ipse per sē nihil nisi lēguleius quīdam cautus et acūtus, praecō āctiōnum, cantor fōrmulārum, auceps syllabārum.
Declension[edit]
Third-declension noun with an indeclinable portion.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | auceps syllabārum | aucupēs syllabārum |
| Genitive | aucupis syllabārum | aucupum syllabārum |
| Dative | aucupī syllabārum | aucupibus syllabārum |
| Accusative | aucupem syllabārum | aucupēs syllabārum |
| Ablative | aucupe syllabārum | aucupibus syllabārum |
| Vocative | auceps syllabārum | aucupēs syllabārum |