senex

Latin

mulier senex (old woman)

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”). Cognates include Lithuanian senis (“old man”), Ancient Greek ἕνος (hénos), Irish sean, Welsh hen, Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬥𐬀 (hana, “old”), Sanskrit सन (sána) and Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌲𐍃 (sineigs).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈse.neks/, [ˈs̠ɛnɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈse.neks/, [ˈsɛːneks]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Adjective

senex (genitive senis, comparative senior, superlative senissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. (usually of a person) old, aged, elderly
   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, 2:22:

     Heli autem erat senex valde et audivit omnia quae faciebant filii sui universo Israheli

     Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel;

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	senex			senēs	senia
Genitive	senis			senium
Dative	senī			senibus
Accusative	senem	senex		senēs	senia
Ablative	senī			senibus
Vocative	senex			senēs	senia

Synonyms

• (old): grandaevus, senectus, vetulus, vetus

Antonyms

• (old): iuvenis

Derived terms

• senāculum
• senātor
• senātōrius
• senātrīx
• senātus
• seneciō
• senectus
• seneō
• senēscō
• seniculus
• senīlis
• senīliter
• senium

 

See also

• antīquus

Noun

senex m or f (genitive senis); third declension

1. old person, old man
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations‎^[1]:
     ; speech 2, section 5

     […] magno opere contemno, conlectum ex senibus desperatis, ex agresti luxuria, ex rusticis decoctoribus, ex eis qui vadimonia deserere quam illum exercitum maluerunt;

     […] I thoroughly despise that army composed of desperate old men, of clownish profligates, and uneducated spendthrifts; of those who have preferred to desert their bail rather than that army

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, 2:28:

     et erit post haec effundam spiritum meum super omnem carnem et prophetabunt filii vestri et filiae vestrae senes vestri somnia somniabunt et iuvenes vestri visiones videbunt

     And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	senex	senēs
Genitive	senis	senum
Dative	senī	senibus
Accusative	senem	senēs
Ablative	sene	senibus
Vocative	senex	senēs

Synonyms

• (old man): seneciō, veglō (Mediaeval)

Antonyms

• (old person): iuvenis

Derived terms

• senex amans
• senex iratus

Descendants

• Old French: sené
• Italian: sene
• Spanish: sene

References

• “senex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “senex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• senex 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)
• senex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • still quote a young (old) man: admodum adulescens, senex