cadaver

See also: Cadaver, cadáver, and cadàver

English

Etymology

Recorded since c.1500, borrowed from Latin cadāver.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈdæv.ə(ɹ)/, /kəˈdɑːv.ə(ɹ)/, /kəˈdeɪ.və(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /kəˈdævɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧dav‧er

Noun

cadaver (plural cadavers)

1. A dead body; especially the corpse of a human to be dissected.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:corpse, Thesaurus:body
• body
• corpse

Derived terms

• cadaveric
• cadaverine
• cadaverous
• cadaverize
• cadaverously
• cadaverousness
• cadaver dog

Related terms

• cadence

Translations

a dead body

• Afrikaans: kadawer
• Armenian: դիակ (hy) (diak), դի (hy) (di), աճյուն (hy) (ačyun)
• Aromanian: murtãciuni f, murtutsinã f
• Asturian: cadabre m, cadávere m
• Bengali: বিশীর্ণ দেহ (Biśīrṇa dēha)
• Bulgarian: труп (bg) m (trup)
• Catalan: cadàver (ca) m
• Cebuano: patay'ng lawas
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 屍體 (zh), 尸体 (zh) (shītǐ)

• Czech: mrtvola (cs) f
• Danish: kadaver (da)
• Dutch: kadaver (nl) n, karkas (nl) n, kreng (nl) n
• Esperanto: kadavro
• Estonian: laip (et), korjus (et)
• Faroese: ræ n, deyður kroppur m, lík n
• Finnish: ruumis (fi), kalmo (fi)
• French: cadavre (fr) m
• Galician: cadáver (gl) m
• Georgian: გვამი (gvami)
• German: Kadaver (de) m
• Greek: πτώμα (el) n (ptóma)

  Ancient Greek: πτῶμα n (ptôma)

• Haitian Creole: kadav
• Hungarian: tetem (hu)
• Indonesian: kadaver (id)

• Italian: cadavere (it) m
• Japanese: 死体 (ja)
• Kurdish: ekîb‎ (ku) (ekîb)
• Kyrgyz: өлүгүн (ölügün)
• Latvian: līķis
• Lithuanian: lavonas m, negyvėlis m
• Macedonian: труп m (trup)
• Maori: tūpāpaku
• Norman: cadâvre m (Jersey)
• Old English: līċ n
• Polish: zwłoki (pl)
• Portuguese: cadáver (pt) m
• Romanian: cadavru (ro) n
• Russian: труп (ru) m (trup), кадавр (ru) (kadavr)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ле̏ш

  Roman: lȅš (sh)

• Slovak: mŕtvola f
• Spanish: cadáver (es) m
• Swedish: kadaver (sv) n, lik (sv) n
• Tagalog: bangkay
• Tok Pisin: daiman
• Volapük: fun (vo), menafun
• West Frisian: skrinkellyk
• Xhosa: tshe

---

Latin

Etymology

From the Latin verb cadō (“I fall”), as a euphemism for dying, "the fallen one". This etymology is found as early as ca. 200 CE in the writings of Tertullian, who associated cadaver to cadendo : Atque adeo caro est quae morte subruitur, ut exinde a cadendo cadaver enuntietur. (Tertullian, De Resurrectione Carnis).

A folk etymology derives cadaver syllabically from the Latin expression caro data vermibus (flesh given to worms). This etymology, more popular in Romance countries, can be traced back as early as the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kaˈdaː.wer/, [kaˈdaː.wɛr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kaˈda.ver/, [kaˈdaː.ver]

Noun

cadāver n (genitive cadāveris); third declension

1. A corpse, cadaver, carcass

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cadāver	cadāvera
Genitive	cadāveris	cadāverum
Dative	cadāverī	cadāveribus
Accusative	cadāver	cadāvera
Ablative	cadāvere	cadāveribus
Vocative	cadāver	cadāvera

Derived terms

• cadāverōsus (seemingly dead)

Descendants

• Asturian: cadávere
• Catalan: cadàver
• English: cadaver
• French: cadavre
• Galician: cadavre
• Italian: cadavere

• Neapolitan: cadavere
• Portuguese: cadáver
• Romanian: cadavru
• Spanish: cadáver

References

• cadaver in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cadaver in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cadaver in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• cadaver in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cadaver in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Tertullian. On the Resurrection of the Flesh. Chapter 18.
  Quote: “So that it is the flesh which falls by death; and accordingly it derives its name, cadaver, from cadendo.” [3]