fonticulus

English

Etymology

From Latin fonticulus, diminutive of fons.

Noun

fonticulus (plural fonticuli)

1. Synonym of fontanelle (“membranous spot on the head of a baby”).
2. A small artificial ulcer produced by caustics or a lancet.
3. (anatomy) The depression just over the top of the breastbone.

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂-der.?

Proto-Italic *fontis

Latin fōns, fontis

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Proto-Italic *-kelos

Latin -culus

Latin fonticulus

From fōns, fontis (“spring, fountain”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [fɔnˈtɪ.kʊ.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [fonˈtiː.ku.lus]

Noun

fonticulus m (genitive fonticulī); second declension

1. diminutive of fōns: a small spring or fountain

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fonticulus	fonticulī
genitive	fonticulī	fonticulōrum
dative	fonticulō	fonticulīs
accusative	fonticulum	fonticulōs
ablative	fonticulō	fonticulīs
vocative	fonticule	fonticulī

Further reading

• “fonticulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fonticulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers