rictus

English

Etymology

From Latin rictus, participle of ringor (“open the mouth wide”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪk.təs/, /ˈɹɪk.tʊs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪktəs

Noun

rictus (plural rictus or rictuses)

1. A bird's gaping mouth.
2. The throat of a calyx.
3. Any open-mouthed expression.

   His face was a rictus of sheer delight.

   • 1899, Victor Hugo, translated by Paul Maurice, The Memoirs of Victor Hugo:

     Amid a thick, bristling beard, a nose like an owl's beak and a mouth whose corners were drawn by a wild-beast-like rictus were just discernible.

   • 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

     A rictus of cruel malignity lit up greyly their old bony faces.

   • 1986, “Deaf Forever”, performed by Motörhead:

     Sword and shield, bone and steel / Rictus grin / Deaf forever to the battle's din

   • 1990, “Nothingface”, performed by Voivod:

     Valves plugs pumps to erase/ rictus from my face.

   • 1993, Wolfenstein 3D, scene: after defeating Hitler (episode 3), level/area: 9:

     The absolute incarnation of evil, Adolf Hitler, lies at your feet in a pool of his own blood. His wrinkled, crimson-splattered visage still strains, a jagged-toothed rictus trying to cry out. Insane even in death. Your lips pinched in bitter victory, you kick his head off his remains and spit on his corpse.

   • 2001, Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl, page 56:

     It squinted at her through the hated light, its brow a rictus of pain and fear.

   • 2008, Sean Williams, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, page 81:

     The apprentice watched his Master, pain twisting his features into a rictus.

Derived terms

• rictal

Translations

Any open-mouthed expression

• Finnish: irvistys (fi)
• French: rictus (fr) m
• German: Grimasse (de) f
• Romanian: rictus (ro)

Anagrams

• Citrus, Curtis, Turcis, citrus, rustic

Catalan

Noun

rictus m (invariable)

1. rictus

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rictus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁik.tys/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland)

  (file)

Noun

rictus m (plural rictus)

1. rictus; grimace

Further reading

• “rictus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From ringor (“I gape, show my teeth, snarl; I am vexed”) +‎ -tus (action noun forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈrik.tus/, [ˈrɪkt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈrik.tus/, [ˈrikt̪us]

Noun

rictus m (genitive rictūs); fourth declension

1. the gaping of a mouth, as when laughing or yawning

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	rictus	rictūs
Genitive	rictūs	rictuum
Dative	rictuī	rictibus
Accusative	rictum	rictūs
Ablative	rictū	rictibus
Vocative	rictus	rictūs

Descendants

• → English: rictus
• → French: rictus
• → Portuguese: ricto
• → Spanish: rictus

References

• “rictus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “rictus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• rictus 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)

Anagrams

• citrus

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French rictus, from Latin rictus.

Noun

rictus n (plural rictusuri)

1. rictus

Declension

Declension of rictus

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) rictus	rictusul	(niște) rictusuri	rictusurile
genitive/dative	(unui) rictus	rictusului	(unor) rictusuri	rictusurilor
vocative	rictusule		rictusurilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rictus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈriɡtus/ [ˈriɣ̞.t̪us]
• Rhymes: -iɡtus
• Syllabification: ric‧tus

Noun

rictus m (plural rictus)

1. sneer; wince

Further reading

• “rictus”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014