mordax

Latin

Etymology

From mordeō (“I bite”) +‎ -āx (“inclined to”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmor.daːks/, [ˈmɔrd̪äːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmor.daks/, [ˈmɔrd̪äks]

Adjective

mordāx (genitive mordācis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. biting; snappish; tart
2. cutting
3. caustic

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	mordāx			mordācēs	mordācia
Genitive	mordācis			mordācium
Dative	mordācī			mordācibus
Accusative	mordācem	mordāx		mordācēs	mordācia
Ablative	mordācī			mordācibus
Vocative	mordāx			mordācēs	mordācia

Derived terms

• mordācitās

Descendants

• Catalan: mordaç
• English: mordacious
• French: mordache
• Galician: mordaz
• Italian: mordace, mordacchia
• Portuguese: mordaz, mordaça
• Spanish: mordaz, mordaza
• Translingual: Mordacia

References

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