caecus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kaikos (“blind, eyeless”), from Proto-Indo-European *káykos (“one-eyed”). Cognates include Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (haihs), Old Irish cáech (“one-eyed”), caoch (“blind”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkae̯.kus/, [ˈkäe̯kʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃe.kus/, [ˈt͡ʃɛːkus]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Adjective

caecus (feminine caeca, neuter caecum); first/second-declension adjective

1. blind
2. invisible

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	caecus	caeca	caecum		caecī	caecae	caeca
Genitive	caecī	caecae	caecī		caecōrum	caecārum	caecōrum
Dative	caecō		caecō		caecīs
Accusative	caecum	caecam	caecum		caecōs	caecās	caeca
Ablative	caecō	caecā	caecō		caecīs
Vocative	caece	caeca	caecum		caecī	caecae	caeca

Related terms

• caecitās
• Caecilius

Descendants

• Asturian: ciegu
• Catalan: cec
• English: caecum
• French: cæcum
• Galician: cego
• Italian: cieco, cecato
• Neapolitan: cecato

• Occitan: cec
• Old Galician-Portuguese: cego
• Portuguese: cego
• Romanian: ceață
• Sardinian: tzecu
• Spanish: ciego

References

• “caecus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “caecus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• caecus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • Fortune makes men shortsighted, infatuates them: fortuna caecos homines efficit, animos occaecat
    
  • (ambiguous) to have no principles: caeco impetu ferri
    
• “caecus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray