cauda

See also: cåuda

English

Noun

cauda (plural caudae)

1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of cauda equina.

See also

• bagna cauda
• cauda galli

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin cauda, either directly (with preservation of /au̯/) or, more likely, via Vulgar Latin cōda (the source of all other Romance forms), with /'oː/ > /au̯/; cf. Latin nōmen > Dalmatian naum.

Noun

cauda f

1. tail

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kaudā (“tail”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂u-d-eh₂ (“cleaved, separate”), from *keh₂w-. Compare cūdō (“to beat, hammer”), caudex (“tree trunk, stump”), Lithuanian kuodas (“tuft”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkau̯.da]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaːu̯.da]

Noun

cauda f (genitive caudae); first declension

1. tail (animal appendage)

   Alternative form: cōda

   Synonym: pēnis (archaic)

   Antonym: caput

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cauda	caudae
genitive	caudae	caudārum
dative	caudae	caudīs
accusative	caudam	caudās
ablative	caudā	caudīs
vocative	cauda	caudae

Derived terms

• cauda illa
• caudālis (“having a tail; caudal”)
• caudam trahere
• caudātus (“tailed, caudate; lengthened, extended, elongated”) (Medieval Latin)
• caudiformis
• caudula

Descendants

• Vulgar Latin: cōda (see there for further descendants)
• >? Dalmatian: cauda (note: by regular sound changes, maybe also from Vulgar Latin cōda)
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: cauda
• Portuguese: cauda
• → Spanish: cauda
• → Romanian: coadă

References

• “cauda”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cauda”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "cauda", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “cauda”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

cauda

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese, borrowed from Latin cauda. Doublet of cola, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.dɐ/ [ˈkaʊ̯.dɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.dɐ/ [ˈkaʊ̯.dɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.da/ [ˈkaʊ̯.da]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈkaw.dɐ/ [ˈkaw.ðɐ]

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Homophone: calda (Brazil)
• Rhymes: -awdɐ
• Hyphenation: cau‧da

Noun

cauda f (plural caudas)

1. tail (posterior appendage or feathers of some animals)

   Synonyms: (archaic) coda, rabo

2. tail; tail end (posterior part or appendage of an object)
   1. (clothing) the part of a dress that is dragged on the floor
   2. (aviation) tail; empennage (rear structure of an aircraft)

   Synonym: empenagem

   1. (astronomy) tail (stream of dust as gases blown from a comet)
   2. (typography, informal) tail; descender (stroke below the baseline of a letter)
3. (figurative) consequences

Related terms

• caudal
• coda
• cola

Further reading

• “cauda”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cauda” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “cauda”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cauda. Doublet of cola, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkauda/ [ˈkau̯.ð̞a]
• Rhymes: -auda
• Syllabification: cau‧da

Noun

cauda f (plural caudas)

1. tail (of a garment)

Further reading

• “cauda”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025