contactus

Latin

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of contingō (“touch on all sides”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /konˈtaːk.tus/, [kɔn̪ˈt̪äːkt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /konˈtak.tus/, [kon̪ˈt̪äkt̪us]

Participle

contāctus (feminine contācta, neuter contāctum); first/second-declension participle

1. touched on all sides, having been touched on all sides
2. reached, arrived at, having been reached
3. touched, affected, moved, having been moved

Declension

First/second-declension adjective

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	contāctus	contācta	contāctum		contāctī	contāctae	contācta
genitive	contāctī	contāctae	contāctī		contāctōrum	contāctārum	contāctōrum
dative	contāctō	contāctae	contāctō		contāctīs
accusative	contāctum	contāctam	contāctum		contāctōs	contāctās	contācta
ablative	contāctō	contāctā	contāctō		contāctīs
vocative	contācte	contācta	contāctum		contāctī	contāctae	contācta

Noun

contāctus m (genitive contāctūs); fourth declension

1. The act of touching; contact, touch.

   Synonyms: contāgiō, tāctus

2. A contagion, infection.

Declension

Fourth-declension noun

	singular	plural
nominative	contāctus	contāctūs
genitive	contāctūs	contāctuum
dative	contāctuī	contāctibus
accusative	contāctum	contāctūs
ablative	contāctū	contāctibus
vocative	contāctus	contāctūs

Related terms

• contāgēs
• contāgiō / contāgium / contāmen
• contāgiōsus

Descendants

• → Catalan: contacte
• → English: contact
• → French: contact
• → Italian: contatto
• → Portuguese: contato, contacto (Portugal)
• → Romanian: contact
• → Russian: конта́кт (kontákt)
• → Spanish: contacto

References

• “contactus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “contactus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• contactus 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)
• contactus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.