lusus

See also: lūšus and Lusus

English

Noun

lusus (plural lususes)

1. Short for lusus naturae.
   • 1796, Thomas Pennant, The History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell, page 118:

     On the right hand […] is a multitude of loose stones, lying on the surface. They are of the lime-stone kind, mere lususes, assuming most singular forms; some are excavated, and often perforated.

Latin

Etymology

From the perfect passive participle of lūdō (“play (a game, sport)”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫuː.sʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈluː.s̬us]

Participle

lūsus (feminine lūsa, neuter lūsum); first/second-declension participle

1. played (a game or sport), having been played.
2. practiced, having been practiced.
3. mocked, mimicked, having been mocked.
4. teased, ridiculed, having been teased.
5. deceived, tricked, having been deceived.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	lūsus	lūsa	lūsum		lūsī	lūsae	lūsa
genitive	lūsī	lūsae	lūsī		lūsōrum	lūsārum	lūsōrum
dative	lūsō	lūsae	lūsō		lūsīs
accusative	lūsum	lūsam	lūsum		lūsōs	lūsās	lūsa
ablative	lūsō	lūsā	lūsō		lūsīs
vocative	lūse	lūsa	lūsum		lūsī	lūsae	lūsa

Noun

lūsus m (genitive lūsūs); fourth declension

1. a playing, play, sport, game

   Synonyms: lūdus, iocus

2. toying, dalliance
3. jest, mockery, fun

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lūsus	lūsūs
genitive	lūsūs	lūsuum
dative	lūsuī	lūsibus
accusative	lūsum	lūsūs
ablative	lūsū	lūsibus
vocative	lūsus	lūsūs

Related terms

• lūdō
• lūdus

References

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