racemus

Latin

Alternative forms

• racīmus (Late Latin)

Etymology

Unknown (Watkins, 1969); probably from an ancient, extinct Mediterranean language. Cognate with Ancient Greek ῥάξ (rháx, “grape”) (root: ῥαγ-, Pre-Greek), Albanian rrush (“resin”), and Persian رز (raz, “vine”), which were presumably borrowed from the same source.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /raˈkeː.mus/, [räˈkeːmʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /raˈt͡ʃe.mus/, [räˈt͡ʃɛːmus]

Noun

racēmus m (genitive racēmī); second declension

1. cluster or bunch of grapes, berries or similar fruits
   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 4.269:

     vel psithia passos de vite racemos

     […] or dried clusters of grapes from Psithian vine[s]

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	racēmus	racēmī
Genitive	racēmī	racēmōrum
Dative	racēmō	racēmīs
Accusative	racēmum	racēmōs
Ablative	racēmō	racēmīs
Vocative	racēme	racēmī

Derived terms

• racēmifer
• racēmor
• racēmārius
• racēmātiō
• racēmātus
• racēmōsus

 

Descendants

For inherited Romance forms, see racīmus.

• → English: raceme
• → French: racème
  • → Romanian: racem
• → Italian: racemo
• → Portuguese: racemo

References

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