mammatus

English

Etymology

New Latin mammatus

Noun

mammatus (plural mammati)

1. Ellipsis of mammatus cloud.

French

Etymology

From New Latin mammatus.

Noun

mammatus m (uncountable)

1. mammatus; Ellipsis of nuage mammatus.

Latin

Etymology

mamma (“breast, udder, teat”) +‎ -ātus (“-ed, -like”).

Adjective

mammātus (feminine mammāta, neuter mammātum); first/second-declension adjective

1. like mammalian breasts
2. furnished with nipples, bumps, bulges or little pipes
   • 23 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, 35 159:

     ad balineas mammatis

   • c. 80 BCE – 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De Architectura 7.4.2.7:

     deinde insuper erectae mammatae tegulae ab imo ad summum ad parietem figantur, quarum interiores partes curiosius picentur, ut ab se respuant liquorem; item in imo et in summo supra camaram habeant spiramenta.

     Over them tegulae mammatae are fixed upright, from the bottom to the top of the wall; and the inner surfaces of these are to be carefully pitched over, that they may resist the moisture; they are, moreover, to have air-holes at bottom, and at top above the vault. —Tony Rook, Roman Building Techniques

Usage notes

"Tegula mammata" was a Roman architectural term referring to a type of tile that had conical projections or bosses on the wall-facing side, thus creating a hollow space underneath when installed. This void was used in wall heating systems to circulate hot air.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	mammātus	mammāta	mammātum		mammātī	mammātae	mammāta
Genitive	mammātī	mammātae	mammātī		mammātōrum	mammātārum	mammātōrum
Dative	mammātō		mammātō		mammātīs
Accusative	mammātum	mammātam	mammātum		mammātōs	mammātās	mammāta
Ablative	mammātō	mammātā	mammātō		mammātīs
Vocative	mammāte	mammāta	mammātum		mammātī	mammātae	mammāta

Descendants

• English: mammatus cloud
• French: nuage mammatus

Further reading

• “mammatus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mammatus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.