dentilegus

Latin

Etymology

Coined by Plautus, from dēns (“tooth”, oblique stem denti-) +‎ -legus (suffix indicating a gathering role).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [dɛnˈtɪ.ɫɛ.ɡʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [denˈtiː.le.ɡus]

Noun

dentilegus m (genitive dentilegī); second declension

1. (Plautine, hapax legomenon, humorous) someone who collects teeth; a tooth-collector.
   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 4.2.16–18:

     [Ergasilus] […] Nam meus est ballista pugnus, cubitus catapultast mihi,
     umerus aries, tum genu quemque icero ad terram dabo,
     dentilegos omnes mortales faciam, quemque offendero.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	dentilegus	dentilegī
genitive	dentilegī	dentilegōrum
dative	dentilegō	dentilegīs
accusative	dentilegum	dentilegōs
ablative	dentilegō	dentilegīs
vocative	dentilege	dentilegī

References

• “dentilegus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “dentilegus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• dentilegus in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung