flavus

Esperanto

Verb

flavus

1. conditional of flavi

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *flāwos, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥h₁wós, from *bʰleh₁- (“yellow, blue”) (which may be related to *bʰel- (“light, bright”, whence Russian бе́лый (bélyj), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga), English blue) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus). Cognate with Proto-Celtic *blāwos (“yellow”) and Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɫaː.wʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈflaː.vus]

Adjective

flāvus (feminine flāva, neuter flāvum, comparative flāvior, superlative flāvissimus); first/second-declension adjective

1. blond
2. (usually poetic) the color or passionate impression of gold, of wheat, of sand, etc. that evokes "blond": yellow, fair
3. (of skin) blushing, red (because it is more colored than white)
4. (of eyes) denotes some kind of eye color that is neither caesius (“blue”) nor rāvus (“gray”): amber or a similar hazel

Usage notes

• As a color term, flāvus was considered a subset of rūfus. The light mixture it signified could have spectral power distribution that leaned toward medium (greenish) or longer (reddish) wavelengths, or could be less saturated (whitish). Marcus Fronto described the color term as ē viridī et rūfō et albō concrētus. See also fulvus.
• In the Augustan period, the word for a simple bright yellow that was used prosaically to describe flower parts and to speak of jaundice was often lūteus.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	flāvus	flāva	flāvum		flāvī	flāvae	flāva
genitive	flāvī	flāvae	flāvī		flāvōrum	flāvārum	flāvōrum
dative	flāvō	flāvae	flāvō		flāvīs
accusative	flāvum	flāvam	flāvum		flāvōs	flāvās	flāva
ablative	flāvō	flāvā	flāvō		flāvīs
vocative	flāve	flāva	flāvum		flāvī	flāvae	flāva

Derived terms

• flāvēdō
• flāvēns
• flāveō
• flāvēscere
• flāvēscō
• flāvicomus
• flāvidus
• sufflāvus

Descendants

• ⇒ Late Latin: flāvulus (diminutive)
  • Neapolitan: javolo (“pallid”) (Irpino dialect)
• >? French: flou (disputed, see etymology)

Borrowings:

• → Esperanto: flava
• → Ido: flava
• → Italian: flavo
• → Portuguese: flavo
• → Spanish: flavo

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic), lacteus (poetic)	rāvus, pullus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, fuscus ("swarthy"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), aureus (poetic); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle); cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus (of eyes), fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus (poetic), caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus (poetic), caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus (poetic)
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus

Further reading

• “flavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “flavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "flavus", 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)
• “flavus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “flavus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “flavus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray