punicus

Latin

Alternative forms

• Punicus, Poenicus, poenicus

Etymology

Variant of Poenicus, from Poenus (“Phoenician”) +‎ -icus.

The ethnonym is an adoption of Ancient Greek Φοῖνιξ (Phoînix), homophonous with φοῖνιξ (phoînix, “Tyrian purple”). There has been some debate as to whether the ethnonym was derived from the name of the dye or vice versa. While it seems in any case likely that both are influenced by the genuinely Greek adjective φοινός (phoinós, “blood-red”), the ethnonym is recorded already in Mycenaean Greek 𐀡𐀛𐀑𐀍 (po-ni-ki-jo), and is apparently a loan from Egyptian fnḫw (“Asiatics, Semites”),

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.ni.kus/, [ˈpuːnɪkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpu.ni.kus/, [ˈpuːnikus]

Adjective

pūnicus (feminine pūnica, neuter pūnicum); first/second-declension adjective

1. Punic, Carthaginian

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	pūnicus	pūnica	pūnicum		pūnicī	pūnicae	pūnica
Genitive	pūnicī	pūnicae	pūnicī		pūnicōrum	pūnicārum	pūnicōrum
Dative	pūnicō		pūnicō		pūnicīs
Accusative	pūnicum	pūnicam	pūnicum		pūnicōs	pūnicās	pūnica
Ablative	pūnicō	pūnicā	pūnicō		pūnicīs
Vocative	pūnice	pūnica	pūnicum		pūnicī	pūnicae	pūnica

Related terms

• Poenī, Pūnī

Descendants

• English: Punic