feles
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Latin [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“wildcat”) (compare Welsh bele (“marten”), Sanskrit भरुज (bharuja, “jackal”), Dhivehi (balu, “dog”)).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
fēlēs (genitive fēlis); f, third declension
- cat
- 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, Liber V, 27:
- Quorum inbutae mentes pravitatis erroribus quamvis carnificinam prius subierint quam ibim aut aspidem aut faelem aut canem aut corcodillum violenti quorum etiamsi inprudentes quippiam fecerint, poenam nullam recusent.
- Their minds being tainted by pernicious opinions, they are ready to bear any torture rather than hurt an ibis, a snake, a cat, a dog, or a crocodile; and should any one inadvertently have hurt any of these animals, he will submit to any punishment.
- Quorum inbutae mentes pravitatis erroribus quamvis carnificinam prius subierint quam ibim aut aspidem aut faelem aut canem aut corcodillum violenti quorum etiamsi inprudentes quippiam fecerint, poenam nullam recusent.
- 1528, Desiderius Erasmus, Adagiorum opus, p. 773:
- Ut feles quoties fugitat, male pedere sueta est.
- Whenever the cat runs away, she is accustomed to fart badly.
- Ut feles quoties fugitat, male pedere sueta est.
- 1556, Conrad Gessner, Aeliani de natura animalium, Liber VI, Cap. XXVII, p. 336:
- Quemadmodum ex felibus mas est libidinosissimus, sic amantissima catulorum femina; quae veneream idcirco maris consuetudinem refugit, quod is calidissimum ignisque simile semen emittat, genitale ut feminae conburat.
- Just as out of the cats, the male is most libidinous, so too is the female of kittens most affectionate; and on that account she runs away from sexual intercourse with the male because he emits the hottest semen like fire, and so burns up the genital organ of the female.
- Quemadmodum ex felibus mas est libidinosissimus, sic amantissima catulorum femina; quae veneream idcirco maris consuetudinem refugit, quod is calidissimum ignisque simile semen emittat, genitale ut feminae conburat.
- 1607, Antoine Mizauld, Opusculorum pars secunda, p. 72v:
- Capitale fuisse apud Aegyptios felem sponte, vel casu occidisse, Diodorus perpulchram demonstrat historiam, suos oculos ac fidem in testimonium adducens, ne putetur esse fabula.
- Diodorus describes, bringing his eyes as well as his faith into the telling lest it be thought a fable, a very beautiful account that among the Egyptians it was punishable by death to deliberately or by accident kill a cat.
- Capitale fuisse apud Aegyptios felem sponte, vel casu occidisse, Diodorus perpulchram demonstrat historiam, suos oculos ac fidem in testimonium adducens, ne putetur esse fabula.
- 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, Liber V, 27:
Inflection [edit]
| Number | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | fēlēs | fēlēs |
| genitive | fēlis | fēlium |
| dative | fēlī | fēlibus |
| accusative | fēlem | fēlēs 1 |
| ablative | fēle | fēlibus |
| vocative | fēlēs | fēlēs |
1 May also be fēlīs.
Synonyms [edit]
- (cat): cattus
Derived terms [edit]
References [edit]
feles in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879
