excidium

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eksˈki.di.um/, [ɛks̠ˈkɪd̪iʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eksˈt͡ʃi.di.um/, [eksˈt͡ʃiːd̪ium]

Etymology 1

From exscindō (“I annihilate, extirpate”) +‎ -ium, from scindō (“I rend, destroy”), compare discidium (“disagreement, discord”). Sometimes construed by folk-etymology as from excīdō (“I cut out, destroy”) +‎ -ium.

Alternative forms

• exscidium

Noun

excidium n (genitive excidiī or excidī); second declension

1. demolition, destruction (especially military), ruin

   Synonyms: dēstrūctiō, lētum, ruīna, excidiō, dēmōlītiō, vāstātiō, devāstātiō, perniciēs, pestis, perditiō, exitium

   De Excidio Britanniae ― On the Ruin of Britain

2. massacre, slaughter, killing

   Synonyms: occīsiō, lētum, homicīdium, nex, occīdiō

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	excidium	excidia
Genitive	excidiī excidī1	excidiōrum
Dative	excidiō	excidiīs
Accusative	excidium	excidia
Ablative	excidiō	excidiīs
Vocative	excidium	excidia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Etymology 2

From excidō +‎ -ium, from cadō (“I fall”).

Noun

excidium n (genitive excidiī or excidī); second declension

1. the setting of the sun

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	excidium	excidia
Genitive	excidiī excidī1	excidiōrum
Dative	excidiō	excidiīs
Accusative	excidium	excidia
Ablative	excidiō	excidiīs
Vocative	excidium	excidia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

References

• “excidium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “excidium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• excidium in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• excidium 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)
• excidium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.