dens

See also: dens.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛnz/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnz

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

dens

1. plural of den

Verb

dens

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of den.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin dens (“a tooth”). Doublet of dent and tooth.

Noun

dens (plural dentes)

1. (anatomy) A toothlike process projecting from the anterior end of the centrum of the axis vertebra on which the atlas vertebra rotates.

   Synonym: odontoid process

Related terms

• crowned dens syndrome
• dens invaginatus

Translations

toothlike process

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 齒突 / 齿突 (chǐtú)

Anagrams

• send, Send, ends, ENDS, Neds, neds, Ends, sned, NDEs, SEND

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēnsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈdɛns]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈdens]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

dens (feminine densa, masculine plural densos, feminine plural denses)

1. dense, thick

Derived terms

• densament

Related terms

• condensar
• densitat

Further reading

• “dens”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “dens”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “dens” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “dens” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cornish

Noun

dens m pl

1. plural of dans (“tooth”)

References

• Cornish-English Dictionary from Maga's Online Dictionary
• Akademi Kernewek Gerlyver Kernewek (FSS) Cornish Dictionary (SWF) (in Cornish), 2018, published 2018, page 31

Danish

Pronoun

dens (nominative den, objective den)

1. its, possessive form of den

See also

Danish personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					common	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	mig	min	mit	mine
	Second	modern / informal	du	dig	din	dit	dine
		formal (uncommon)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	masculine (person)	han	ham	hans
		feminine (person)	hun	hende	hendes
		common (noun)	den		dens
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		indefinite	man	en	ens
		reflexive	–	sig	sin	sit	sine
Plural	First	modern	vi	os	vores
		archaic / formal			vor	vort	vore
	Second	–	I	jer	jeres
	Third	–	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	sig

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin dē intus.

Pronoun

dens (ORB, broad)

1. in

References

• dans in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• dens in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Latin

Dēns (a tooth)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *dents, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts. Cognates include Ancient Greek ὀδούς (odoús), Sanskrit दत् (dát), Lithuanian danti̇̀s, Old English tōþ (English tooth), Armenian ատամ (atam).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdẽːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛns]

Noun

dēns m (genitive dentis); third declension

1. (anatomy) a tooth
   • 8 CE – 12 CE, Ovid, Sorrows 1.77–78:

     nec procul ā stabulīs audet discēdere, sīquā
     excussa est avidī dentibus agna lupī.

     Nor [does a] lamb dare to withdraw far from the sheep-folds, if it was ever torn from the teeth of a hungry wolf.
     (The flexibility of Latin word order allows Ovid to heighten tension by enjoining the words for lamb and wolf. Translations vary; was the lamb ever torn “by the teeth” of a wolf, or did a shepherd once rescue the lamb “from the teeth” of a wolf?)

   • 1803, Joanne Nep. Alber, Interpretatio Sacrae Scripturae per Omnes Veteris et Novi Testamenti Libros‎^[1], 30:14, page 172:

     prō dentibus gladiōs habent

     They have swords for teeth.

2. (metonymic) a tooth, point, spike, prong, tine, fluke, or any tooth-like projection
3. (figuratively) tooth of envy, envy, ill will
   1. tooth of a destroying power
      • c. 99 BCE – 55 BCE, Lucretius, De rerum natura 1.851–853:

        nam quid in oppressū validō dūrābit eōrum, ut mortem effugiat, lēti sub dentibus ipsīs? ignis an ūmor an aura? quid hōrum? sanguen an ossa?

        For which of them will last—and escape death—under the strong pressure, under the very teeth of annihilation? The fire, or the moisture, or the air? Which of these? The blood, or the bones?

      • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 15.233–235:

        Tempus edāx rērum, tūque, invidiōsa vetustās, omnia dēstruitis, vitiātaque dentibus aevī paulātim lentā cōnsūmitis omnia morte.

        O Time, devourer of all things, and you, jealous Old Age, you destroy everything; and, through the teeth of time, and a slow, tainted death, little by little, you consume everything.

      • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 42:

        Excēpit Seleucus fābulae partem et “Egō̆” inquit “nōn cō̆tīdiē lavor; baliscus enim fullō est, aqua dentēs habet, et cor nostrum cō̆tīdiē liquēscit.[”]

        Seleucus took up part of the tale and "I", he said, "do not wash every day; for the bath is a fuller, the water has teeth, and our heart melts away daily."

Inflection

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	dēns	dentēs
genitive	dentis	dentium
dative	dentī	dentibus
accusative	dentem	dentēs dentīs
ablative	dente	dentibus
vocative	dēns	dentēs

Derived terms

• dentāle, dentālia
• dentālis
• dentāneus
• dentārius
• dentarpaga
• dentātus
• dentefabris
• denticulus
• dentidūcum
• dentifrangibulus
• dentifricium
• dentilegus
• dentiō
• dentiscalpium
• dentix

Related terms

• Denter

Descendants

Most descendants show a vowel reduced *dĕntem etymon

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: dinti f, dinte f
  • Istro-Romanian: dinte
  • Megleno-Romanian: dinti m
  • Romanian: dinte m
• Dalmatian:
  • diant m
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: dente, denti
  • Italian: dente m
  • Neapolitan: dente m
  • Sicilian: denti m
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: dènte
• Padanian:
  • Piedmontese: dent m
  • Romagnol: dént m (Ville Unite)
  • Venetan: dente, dénte m
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: dint m
  • Ladin: dent m
  • Lombard: dent m
  • Romansch: dent m
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: dent f
  • Oïl:
    • Picard: dint
    • Old French: dent m
      • Middle French: dent f
        • French: dent f
      • Walloon: dint f
  • Oc:
    • Catalan: dent f
    • Occitan: dent f
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: dient m
  • Asturian: diente m
  • Mirandese: diente m
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: dente m
    • Fala: denti m
    • Galician: dente m
    • Portuguese: dente m
  • Old Spanish: dente m, diente, dient
    • Ladino: diente, דיינטי
    • Spanish: diente

Borrowings:

• → English: dens
• → Esperanto: dento
• → Interlingua: dente
• Translingual: ⇒ Dentella, ⇒ Compressidens

References

• “dens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "dens", 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)
• “dens”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “dens”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “dens”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronoun

dens (nominative den, oblique den)

1. its, possessive form of den

See also

Norwegian Bokmål personal pronouns

Number	Person	Type	Nominative	Oblique	Possessive
					feminine	masculine	neuter	plural
Singular	First	–	jeg	meg	mi	min	mitt	mine
	Second	general	du	deg	di	din	ditt	dine
		formal (rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	feminine (person)	hun	henne	hennes
		masculine (person)	han	ham / han	hans
		feminine (noun)	den		dens
		masculine (noun)
		neuter (noun)	det		dets
		reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine
Plural	First	–	vi	oss	vår		vårt	våre
	Second	general	dere		deres
		formal (very rare)	De	Dem	Deres
	Third	general	de	dem	deres
		reflexive	–	seg	si	sin	sitt	sine

Occitan

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin dē intus.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Preposition

dens

1. (Gascony) in, within, inside

References

• Guilhemjoan, Patric (2005), Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), Per Noste, →ISBN, page 54.

Old Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈdɛns/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈdɛns/

Adverb

dens

1. alternative form of dnes

Further reading

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “dens”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dense, Latin densus. Compare the inherited doublet des.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dens/

Adjective

dens m or n (feminine singular densă, masculine plural denși, feminine/neuter plural dense)

1. dense

Declension

Declension of dens

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	dens		densă		denși	dense
	definite	densul		densa		denșii	densele
genitive- dative	indefinite	dens		dense		denși	dense
	definite	densului		densei		denșilor	denselor

Related terms

• condensa
• densitate

Further reading

• “dens”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025