fomes

English

Etymology

From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, etc. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfəʊmiːz/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊ.miːz/

Noun

fomes (plural fomites)

1. (obsolete, medicine) The morbid matter created by a disease.
   • 1773, Gentleman's Magazine, number 43, page 554:

     If this putrid ferment could be more immediately corrected, a stop would probably be put to the flux, and the fomes of the disease likewise removed.

2. (archaic, medicine) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people.

   Toys are common fomites.

   • 1803, Medical & Physical Journal, number 10, page 213:

     I cannot say that I have known it spread from fomites.

3. (archaic, figurative) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious.
   • 1658, John Owen, Of Temptation, page 126:

     Naturall tempers... prove a great Fomes of sinne.

References

• “fomes”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “fomes, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1897.

Anagrams

• MEFOs

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-. Related to Latin foveō (“I keep warm”), compare Latin fōmentum (“compress, poultice; kindling; mitigation”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈfoː.mes/, [ˈfoːmɛs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfo.mes/, [ˈfɔːmes]

Noun

fōmes m (genitive fōmitis); third declension

1. tinder, kindling
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.174–176:

     Ac prīmum silicī scintillam excūdit Achātēs,
     succēpitque ignem foliīs, atque ārida circum
     nūtrīmenta dedit, rapuitque in fōmite flammam.

     And Achates first struck a spark from flint, and caught the fire on leaves, and so he spread dry fuel around, and hastened a flame within the tinder.

2. (Medieval Latin) tinderbox
3. (New Latin, medicine) fomite

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fōmes	fōmitēs
Genitive	fōmitis	fōmitum
Dative	fōmitī	fōmitibus
Accusative	fōmitem	fōmitēs
Ablative	fōmite	fōmitibus
Vocative	fōmes	fōmitēs

References

• “fomes”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fomes”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fomes in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Noun

fomes

1. plural of fome

Portuguese

Noun

fomes

1. plural of fome

Spanish

Adjective

fomes

1. plural of fome