fornix

See also: fórnix

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin fornix (“an arch, vault”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔː(ɹ).nɪks/

Noun

fornix (plural fornices)

1. (anatomy) An archlike or vaulted structure or fold:
   1. The junction where the conjunctiva lining the eyelid meets the conjunctiva overlying the sclera.
   2. (neuroanatomy) A triangular area of white matter in the mammalian brain beneath the corpus callosum and between the hippocampus and the hypothalamus.
   3. The vaulted upper part of the vagina surrounding the uterine cervix.

Derived terms

• fornical
• fornicate
• forniceal
• fornix vaginae

Translations

archlike or vaulted structure or fold

• Catalan: fòrnix m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 穹窿 (zh) (qiónglóng, (Taiwan) qiōnglóng)

• Finnish: holvi (fi), pohjukka
• Spanish: fórnix m

brain part

• Catalan: fòrnix m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 穹窿 (zh) (qiónglóng, (Taiwan) qiōnglóng)

• Esperanto: fornikso
• Finnish: aivokaari
• Polish: sklepienie (pl) n
• Spanish: fórnix m

References

• “fornix”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “fornix”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Probably akin to Latin fornāx and furnus, fornus (“furnace”), and derived from the latter as *fornikos (“vaulted like a furnace”): typologically compare Ancient Greek κάμινος (káminos, “furnace”) beside καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”), both possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- (“to bend, to curve”).

Noun

fornix m (genitive fornicis); third declension

1. (literal) arch, vault
   1. (poetic) the arch of heaven
2. (originally metonymic) cellar; crypt
   1. (euphemistic) brothel situated in a cellar
   2. (Medieval Latin, figurative) basis or foundation (of an idea)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fornix	fornicēs
genitive	fornicis	fornicum
dative	fornicī	fornicibus
accusative	fornicem	fornicēs
ablative	fornice	fornicibus
vocative	fornix	fornicēs

Derived terms

• cōnfornicō
• fornicāria
• fornicārius
• fornicātiālis
• fornicātim
• fornicātiō
• fornicātor
• fornicātōrius
• fornicātrīx
• fornicātus
• forniceps
• forniceus
• fornicium
• fornicō
• fornicor
• fornicōsus
• Fornix Fabiānus
• Fornix Fabius
• fornixellus

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: fòrnix
• → English: fornix
• → Italian: fornice
• → Portuguese: fórnice
• → Romanian: fornix
• → Spanish: fórnix
• → Welsh: ffyrnig

Etymology 2

Conflation with fornāx.

Noun

fornix m (genitive fornicis); third declension

1. (Medieval Latin) furnace; oven

Further reading

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

• R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “fornix”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎^[2], London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC
• “fornix”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• fornix in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[3], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “fornix”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Rich, Anthony (1849), “fornix”, in The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon‎^[4], London: Longmans, pages 297–298