culus

See also: -culus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *kuH-l-, zero-grade without s-mobile form of *(s)kewH- (“to cover”). Cognates include Old Irish cúl (“bottom”), Lithuanian kẽvalas (“skin, cover”) and indirectly Old English hȳd (English hide). Related to obscūrus (“dark, obscure”) and cutis (“hide”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkuː.lus/, [ˈkuː.ɫʊs]

Noun

cūlus m (genitive cūlī); second declension

1. (vulgar) (anatomy) The anus, arse; the posterior, buttocks
   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 97, (translation adapted by H.J.Walker, which can be viewed here):

     Non (ita me di ament) quicquam referre putaui,
     utrumne os an culum olfacerem Aemilio.

     I swear by the gods I didn't think it mattered one straw,
     whether I sniffed Aemilius's head or his arse.

Inflection

Second declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cūlus	cūlī
Genitive	cūlī	cūlōrum
Dative	cūlō	cūlīs
Accusative	cūlum	cūlōs
Ablative	cūlō	cūlīs
Vocative	cūle	cūlī

Synonyms

• ānus
• clūnis
• pōdex
• puga

Derived terms

• cūlō
• cūlōsus

Descendants

• Aromanian: cur
• Asturian: culu
• Catalan: cul
• Corsican: culu
• Dalmatian: čol
• French: cul, culotte
• Friulian: cûl
• Galician: cu
• Ido: kulo
• Istro-Romanian: cur
• Italian: culo

• Lombard: cüü
• Megleno-Romanian: cur
• Occitan: cuol
• Portuguese: cu
• Romanian: cur
• Romansch: tgil, tgigl, chül
• Sardinian: colu, cu, culu
• Sicilian: culu
• Spanish: culo
• Venetian: cuło, cul
• Walloon: cou

References

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

---

Somali

Adjective

culus

1. heavy