equus

See also: Equus

Latin

Alternative forms

• equos (Republican spelling)
• ecus (phonetic spelling)

Etymology

PIE word
*h₁éḱwos

For Proto-Italic *ekwos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éḱwos (“horse”), cognate with Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos), Sanskrit अश्व (áśva), Persian اسب (asb), Old Armenian էշ (ēš, “donkey”), Tocharian B yakwe, Gaulish epos. Respelt with QVV for the earlier QVO/CV in post-Augustan times on the analogy of oblique cases.

Pronunciation

equus (a horse)

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.kʷus/, [ˈɛkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.kwus/, [ˈɛːkwus]

Noun

equus m (genitive equī, feminine equa); second declension

1. a horse
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid II.48:

     equo ne credite, Teucri! Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

     Do not trust the horse, Trojans! Whatever it is, I fear the Danaans even if they are bearing gifts.

   • Vergil, Aeneis II, 48 and 110-113 and 150 (edited and translated by H. Rushton Fairclough, Virgil with an English translation I, 1916)

     saepe illos aspera ponti | interclusit hiems et terruit Auster euntis; | praecipue, cum iam hic trabibus contextus acernis | staret equus, toto sonuerunt aethere nimbi.

     Often a fierce tempest of the deep cut them off and the gale scared them from going. Above all, when yonder horse now stood framed of maple-beams, storm clouds sounded throughout the sky.

     quo molem hanc immanis equi statuere?

     To what end have they set up this huge mass of a horse?

2. a steed, charger
   • Vergil, Georgicon II, 541-542 (edited and translated by H. Rushton Fairclough, Virgil with an English translation I, 1916)

     Sed nos immensum spatiis confecimus aequor, | et iam tempus equum fumantia solvere colla.

     But in our course we have traversed a mighty plain, and now it is time to unyoke the necks of our smoking steeds.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	equus	equī
Genitive	equī	equōrum
Dative	equō	equīs
Accusative	equum	equōs
Ablative	equō	equīs
Vocative	eque	equī

Synonyms

• caballus
• verēdus
• cantērius
• mannus

Hypernyms

• iūmentum (when used to pull carts)
• armentum (when used to pull plows)

Derived terms

• Equus
• equisaetum
• equīsō

Related terms

• equa
• equārius
• eques
• equester
• equiferus
• equīle
• equimulga
• equīnus
• equiō
• equīria
• equis virisque
• equitārius
• equitātiō
• equitātus
• equitium
• equitō
• equula
• equuleus
• equulus
• Equus Troianus

Descendants

• → Esperanto: ekvo, ekvedo, ekveno
• → Translingual: Equus

References

• “equus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “equus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• equus 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)
• equus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to begin a journey (on foot, on horseback, by land): iter ingredi (pedibus, equo, terra)
    
  • to ride: equo vehi
    
  • to saddle a horse: sternere equum
    
  • to mount: conscendere equum
    
  • to mount: ascendere in equum
    
  • to dismount: descendere ex equo
    
  • to be on horseback: in equo sedere; equo insidēre
    
  • to sit a horse well; to have a good seat: (in) equo haerere
    
  • to put spurs to a horse: calcaria subdere equo
    
  • to put spurs to a horse: calcaribus equum concitare
    
  • at full gallop: equo citato or admisso
    
  • ride against any one at full speed; charge a person: equum in aliquem concitare
    
  • to give a horse the reins: admittere, permittere equum
    
  • to give a horse the reins: frenos dare equo
    
  • to make a horse prance: agitare equum
    
  • to manage a horse: moderari equum
    
  • the horses are panic-stricken, run away: equi consternantur
    
  • to bring horses to the halt when at full gallop: equos incitatos sustinere
    
  • to keep horses, dogs: alere equos, canes
    
  • to serve in the cavalry, infantry: equo, pedibus merere (Liv. 27. 11)
    
  • to capture horses: capere equos
    
  • to fight on horseback: ex equo pugnare