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.ɫ̪ʊs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈku.lus/, [ˈkuː.lus]

Noun

cūlus m (genitive cūlī); second declension

1. (vulgar) (anatomy) The posterior, arse, ass, 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.

2. (vulgar) (anatomy) The anus

Declension

Second-declension noun.

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

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Somali

Adjective

culus

1. heavy