cervus

See also: Cervus

Latin

cervī (stags)

Alternative forms

• cervos

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) (whence English horn, hirn, Latin cornū (“horn”)) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus). Cognate with Welsh carw (“deer”), Greek κεραός (keraós, “horned”). The first-syllable e was likely taken from the PIE root noun *ḱerh₂s (“horn”) (itself eventually lost in Latin), while the shift in meaning from 'horned' to 'deer' may be common Italo-Celtic.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈker.wus/, [ˈkɛr.wʊs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.vus/, [ˈt͡ʃɛr.vus]

Noun

cervus m (genitive cervī); second declension

1. deer, stag
2. (by extension) forked stakes
3. (military) cheval de frise

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cervus	cervī
Genitive	cervī	cervōrum
Dative	cervō	cervīs
Accusative	cervum	cervōs
Ablative	cervō	cervīs
Vocative	cerve	cervī

Derived terms

• cerva
• cervārius
• cervīna

• cervīnus
• cervula
• cervulus

Descendants

• Aragonese: ciervo
• Aromanian: tserbu
• Asturian: ciervu
• Catalan: cérvol
• Corsican: cervu
• Esperanto: cervo
• French: cerf
• Friulian: cierf

• Galician: cervo
• Italian: cervo
• Ladin: cerf
• Lombard: cèrf
• Occitan: cèrvi
• Picard: cherfe
• Portuguese: cervo

• Romanian: cerb
• Romansch: tschierv
• Sardinian: cherbu
• Sicilian: cervu
• Spanish: ciervo
• Tourangeau: çarh
• Venetian: cervo
• Walloon: cier

Further reading

• cervus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cervus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cervus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• cervus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette