ensis

See also: Ensis and -ensis

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂n̥sis. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄσις (ásis, “slime, mud”), Sanskrit असित (ásita, “dark, black”), असि (asi, “sword”), and Palaic 𒄩𒅆𒄿𒊏 (ḫa-ši-i-ra /⁠hasīra⁠/, “dagger”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈen.sis/, [ˈẽːs̠ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈen.sis/, [ˈɛnsis]

Noun

ēnsis m (genitive ēnsis); third declension

1. sword

   Ēnsem laterī accommodāre.

   To adjust his sword by his side.

   Petere aliquem ēnse.

   To attack someone with a sword.

   Ēnsis lūminātus est.

   A light sword (lightsaber).

2. (figuratively) war

   lātēque vagātur ēnsis

3. (figuratively) defender

   Mārcellō Rōmānōrum ēnsī

4. (figuratively) royal sway
5. The constellation Orion.

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	ēnsis	ēnsēs
genitive	ēnsis	ēnsium
dative	ēnsī	ēnsibus
accusative	ēnsem	ēnsēs ēnsīs
ablative	ēnse	ēnsibus
vocative	ēnsis	ēnsēs

Derived terms

• ēnsifer
• ēnsiculus

Descendants

• Translingual: Ensis

References

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