ancus

See also: Ancus

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain; possibly from angō (“to draw together, to strangle”). It could also be from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énkos (“curve”), but this is a neuter s-stem noun (like e.g. genus), a formation unknown to adjectives.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈan.kus/, [ˈäŋkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈan.kus/, [ˈäŋkus]

Adjective

ancus (feminine anca, neuter ancum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:) (possibly) bent or bound

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ancus	anca	ancum		ancī	ancae	anca
Genitive	ancī	ancae	ancī		ancōrum	ancārum	ancōrum
Dative	ancō		ancō		ancīs
Accusative	ancum	ancam	ancum		ancōs	ancās	anca
Ablative	ancō	ancā	ancō		ancīs
Vocative	ance	anca	ancum		ancī	ancae	anca

Usage notes

• This word occurs only once in surviving Latin sources, where it describes arms that are not raised. Its meaning is uncertain.

References

• “ancus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ancus 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)
• ancus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.