dorsum

English

Etymology

Latin

Noun

dorsum (plural dorsa)

1. (anatomy) The back or dorsal region on an animal.
2. (geology) A ridge on a hill, or on the surface of a planet or moon.
3. (astronomy) Theta Capricorni, a star on the back of the Goat
4. The back of the tongue, used for articulating dorsal consonants.
5. The top of the foot or the back of the hand.

Synonyms

• (back of an animal): back

Related terms

• dorsal

Translations

back of an animal

• German: Rücken (de), Dorsum (de) (in anatomy)

back of the tongue

• German: Züngenrücken, Dorsum linguae (in anatomy), Dorsum (de) (in linguistics; in anatomy this means 'back')

References

• dorsum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic, with no known cognates in any other Indo-European languages. Has been linked to deorsum, but their contemporaneous use suggests that one was not a phonetic development of the other.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈdor.sum/, [ˈdɔr.sũ]

Noun

dorsum n (genitive dorsī); second declension

1. (anatomy) back, part of the body between the neck and buttocks
2. (figuratively) ridge, summit

Inflection

Second declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	dorsum	dorsa
genitive	dorsī	dorsōrum
dative	dorsō	dorsīs
accusative	dorsum	dorsa
ablative	dorsō	dorsīs
vocative	dorsum	dorsa

Antonyms

• venter

Derived terms

• dorsālis
• dorsualia

Descendants

• Catalan: dors
  • Archaic Catalan: dos
• Dalmatian: duas
• French: dos
• Italian: dorso

• Old Portuguese: dosso
• Portuguese: dorso
• Romanian: dos
• Romansch: dies
• Spanish: dorso, Dueso

References

• dorsum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dorsum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• du Cange, Charles (1883), “dorsum”, in G. A. Louis Henschel, Pierre Carpentier, Léopold Favre, editors, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (in Latin), Niort: L. Favre
• “dorsum” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)