forceps

See also: fòrceps, fórceps, and Forceps

English

plastic forceps

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin forceps.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːsɛps/, /ˈfɔːsəps/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɹsɛps/
• (without the horse–hoarse merger, rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ(ː)ɹsɛps/

Noun

forceps (plural forceps or forcipes or forcepses)

1. An instrument used in surgery or medical procedures for grasping and holding objects, similar to tongs or pincers.
2. (entomology) A pair of appendages on the abdomen of some insects, such as earwigs, resembling the medical instrument.

Usage notes

Although the Latin word is singular, this word is often treated as a plurale tantum by analogy with names for similar items such as tongs and tweezers: this forceps or these forceps (or even pair of forceps).

Synonyms

• pair of forceps

Hyponyms

• serrefine

Derived terms

• dressing forceps
• eyelash forceps
• forceps delivery
• forceps-like
• forcepslike
• forcepstail
• gonoforceps
• microforceps
• midforceps

Translations

instrument used in surgery

• Bulgarian: щипци (bg) pl (štipci)
• Catalan: fòrceps m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鑷子 / 镊子 (zh) (nièzi), 鉗子 / 钳子 (zh) (qiánzi), 產鉗 / 产钳 (zh) (chǎnqián) (obstetric)

• Dutch: pincet (nl)
• Estonian: sünnitustangid
• Finnish: pihdit (fi) pl, atulat (fi) pl
• French: forceps (fr) m; (in dentistry) davier (fr) m
• German: Zange (de) f, Pinzette (de) f, (in delivery) Forzeps (de) m or f
• Greek: λαβίδα (el) f (lavída)

  Ancient Greek: λαβίς (labís), πυράγρα f (purágra), σαρκολαβίς f (sarkolabís)

• Hindi: चिमटा (hi) m (cimṭā)
• Indonesian: forsep (id)
• Inuktitut: ᑭᒍᑕᐃᖅᓯᔾᔭᑎᑦ (kicotaiqsiyyatit)
• Irish: teanchair f
• Italian: forcipe m
• Japanese: 鉗子 (ja) (かんし, kanshi)
• Kannada: ಚಿಮುಟಾಂಗ (kn) (cimuṭāṅga)
• Korean: 집게 (ko) (jipge)
• Latin: forceps f
• Macedonian: пинцета f (pinceta)
• Malay: forsep
• Malayalam: ചവണ (ml) (cavaṇa)
• Polish: kleszcze (pl) nvir, szczypce (pl) nvir
• Portuguese: fórceps (pt) m
• Russian: (хирурги́ческие) щипцы́ (ru) m pl (ščipcý), пинце́т (ru) m (pincét), зажи́м (ru) m (zažím)
• Spanish: fórceps (es) m
• Tagalog: panipit
• Tamil: சாவணம் (ta) (cāvaṇam), இடுக்கி (ta) (iṭukki) (uncommon)
• Telugu: పటకారు (te) (paṭakāru)
• Turkish: pens (tr)
• Ukrainian: акушерські щипці (akušersʹki ščypci)

Further reading

• forceps on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin forceps.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.sɛps/

Noun

forceps m (invariable)

1. (medicine) forceps

Further reading

• “forceps”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *formokaps through syncope. By surface analysis, formus (“warm”) +‎ -ceps (“taker”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɔr.kɛps]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfɔr.t͡ʃeps]

Noun

forceps m (genitive forcipis); third declension

1. (pair of) tongs, pincers, forceps

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	forceps	forcipēs
genitive	forcipis	forcipum
dative	forcipī	forcipibus
accusative	forcipem	forcipēs
ablative	forcipe	forcipibus
vocative	forceps	forcipēs

Derived terms

• forcipātus

Descendants

• Catalan: fòrceps
• → English: forceps (learned)
• → French: forceps (learned)
  • → Romanian: forceps
• → German: Forzeps (learned)
• Galician: fórceps
• Italian: forcipe
• Portuguese: fórceps, fórcipe
• Sicilian: fòrcipi
• Spanish: fórceps
• → Turkish: forseps (learned)

References

• “forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "forceps", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “forceps”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “forceps”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “forceps”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 108

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French forceps.

Noun

forceps n (plural forcepsuri)

1. forceps

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	forceps	forcepsul		forcepsuri	forcepsurile
genitive-dative	forceps	forcepsului		forcepsuri	forcepsurilor
vocative	forcepsule			forcepsurilor