cadaver

See also cadàver, and cadáver

English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1500, from Latin cadāver, probably from cadō (“I fall”) as a metaphor for "I die", also source (through combining form -cida) of the -cide in suicide, homicide etc.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kəˈdæv.ə(ɹ)/, /kəˈdɑːv.ə(ɹ)/, /kəˈdeɪ.və(ɹ)/, SAMPA: /k@"d{v.@(r\)/, /k@"dA:v.@(r\)/, /k@"deI.v@(r\)/
• (US) IPA: /kəˈdævɚ/, SAMPA: /k@"d{v@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧dav‧er

Noun

cadaver (plural cadavers)

1. A dead body; especially the corpse of a human to be dissected.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:corpse, Wikisaurus:body
• body
• corpse

Derived terms

• cadaveric
• cadaverine
• cadaverous

Translations

a dead body

Armenian: դիակ (hy) (diak), դի (hy) (di), աճյուն (hy) (ač̣yun) Bulgarian: труп (bg) m. Catalan: cadàver (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 屍體 (cmn), 尸体 (cmn) (shītǐ) Danish: kadaver (da) Dutch: kadaver n., karkas n., kreng n. Finnish: ruumis (fi), kalmo (fi) French: cadavre (fr) m. German: Kadaver (de) m. Greek: πτώμα (el) (ptóma) n. Haitian Creole: kadav Hungarian: dög (hu)

Italian: cadavere (it) m. Japanese: 死体 Lithuanian: lavonas (lt) m., negyvėlis (lt) m. Old English: līċ (ang) n. Portuguese: cadáver (pt) m. Romanian: cadavru (ro) n. Russian: труп (ru) (trup) m. Slovak: mŕtvola (sk) f. Spanish: cadáver (es) m. Swedish: kadaver (sv) n. Volapük: fun (vo), menafun (vo)

---

Latin

Etymology

From the Latin verb cadō (“I fall”), as a euphemism for dying, "the fallen one". This etymology is found as early as ca. 200 CE in the writings of Tertullian, who associated cadaver to cadendo : Atque adeo caro est quae morte subruitur, ut exinde a cadendo cadaver enuntietur. (Tertullian, De Resurrectione Carnis).

A folk etymology derives cadaver syllabically from the Latin expression caro data vermibus. This etymology, more popular in Romance countries, can be traced back as early as the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages.

Pronunciation

	IPA	SAMPA
Classical	/kaˈdaːwer/	/ka"da:wer/
Ecclesiastical	/kaˈdaver/	/ka"daver/

Noun

cadāver (genitive cadāveris); n, third declension

1. A corpse, cadaver, carcass

Derived terms

• cadāverōsus (seemingly dead)

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	cadāver	cadāvera
genitive	cadāveris	cadāverum
dative	cadāverī	cadāveribus
accusative	cadāver	cadāvera
ablative	cadāvere	cadāveribus
vocative	cadāver	cadāvera

References

• Tertullian. On the Resurrection of the Flesh. Chapter 18.
  Quote: “So that it is the flesh which falls by death; and accordingly it derives its name, cadaver, from cadendo.” [3]