Iapetus

English

The moon Iapetus

Alternative forms

• Japetus

Etymology

Ancient Greek Ἰαπετός (Iapetós).

• (moon): Named after the titan.
• (ocean): The Iapetus Ocean was the predecessor to the Atlantic Ocean, so this name was chosen because Iapetus is the father of Atlas (see Atlantic).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aɪˈæpɪtəs/

Proper noun

Iapetus

1. (Greek mythology) A Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.
2. (astronomy) The third largest moon of Saturn
3. (geology) An ancient ocean which existed between 600 and 400 million years ago.
   • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 184:

     So, in the early Ordovician, Iapetus was wide enough to have one side in high latitudes and the other in the tropics: a massive ocean, indeed.

Synonyms

• (ocean): Proto-Atlantic, Proto-Atlantic Ocean

Derived terms

• Iapetian

Related terms

• Iapetic

Translations

the Titan

• Danish: Iapetus
• Estonian: Iapetos
• Finnish: Iapetos
• French: Japet (fr) m
• German: Japetus m, Japetos m, Iapetos m
• Greek: Ιαπετός (el) m (Iapetós)

  Ancient: Ἰαπετός m (Iapetós)

• Greenlandic: Japetusi
• Inuktitut: ᐃᐊᐲᑐᔅ (iapiitos)
• Latin: Japetus m
• Portuguese: Jápeto m, Iápeto m
• Russian: Я́пет (ru) m (Jápet)
• Spanish: Jápeto (es) m

the moon of Saturn

• Finnish: Japetus
• French: Japet (fr) m
• German: Japetus m, Iapetus (de) m
• Greek: Ιαπετός (el) m (Iapetós)
• Italian: Giapeto m
• Portuguese: Jápeto
• Russian: Я́пет (ru) m (Jápet)
• Spanish: Jápeto (es)

Anagrams

• Paiutes, taupies

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ῑ̓ᾰπετός (Īapetós, “Iapetus”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /iːˈa.pe.tus/, [iːˈäpɛt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iˈa.pe.tus/, [iˈäːpet̪us]

Proper noun

Īapetus m sg (genitive Īapetī); second declension

1. (Greek mythology) Iapetus
   • 303 CE – 311 CE, Lactantius, Institutiones Divinae 2.10.7:

     Prometheus ex Iapeto natus est

     Prometheus himself was born from Iapetus

Inflection

Second-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Īapetus
Genitive	Īapetī
Dative	Īapetō
Accusative	Īapetum
Ablative	Īapetō
Vocative	Īapete

Related terms

• Īapetīonidēs (patronymic)

Descendants

• → English: Iapetus

References

• “Iapetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press