taxus

See also: Taxus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈtak.sus/, [ˈt̪äks̠ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈtak.sus/, [ˈt̪äksus]

Etymology 1

A loanword of Scythian origin, from Proto-Iranian *taxša, from Proto-Indo-European *tekʷ- (“to flee, run”), as the fruit was considered poisonous. Also compare modern Persian تخش (taxš, “crossbow”).(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

taxus f (genitive taxī); second declension

1. A yew (tree).
2. (poetic) A javelin made of the wood of the yew tree.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	taxus	taxī
Genitive	taxī	taxōrum
Dative	taxō	taxīs
Accusative	taxum	taxōs
Ablative	taxō	taxīs
Vocative	taxe	taxī

Derived terms

• taxeus
• taxicus

Descendants

• Asturian: texu
• Catalan: teix
• Esperanto: taksuso
• French: taxacées
• Galician: teixo
• Ido: taxuso

• Italian: tasso
• Portuguese: teixo
• Spanish: tejo
• Translingual: Taxus
• Venetian: taso

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *þahsuz (“badger”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *teḱ- (“construct”) after the badger's construction of its setts. However see also Gaulish taksos (Delamarre, 2003).

Alternative forms

• taxō

Noun

taxus m (genitive taxī); second declension

1. (Late Latin) badger

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	taxus	taxī
Genitive	taxī	taxōrum
Dative	taxō	taxīs
Accusative	taxum	taxōs
Ablative	taxō	taxīs
Vocative	taxe	taxī

Descendants

See also descendants at taxō.

• Galician: teixo
• Italian: tasso

References

• “taxus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “taxus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• taxus 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)
• taxus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “taxus”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.