vervex

Latin

Alternative forms

• berbēx
• verbēx

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”, acc. *wr̥h₁énm̥, gen. *wr̥h₁nós). Cognates include Sanskrit उरण (úraṇa), Old Armenian գառն (gaṙn) and Ancient Greek ἀρήν (arḗn, “lamb”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯er.u̯eːks/, [ˈu̯ɛru̯eːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈver.veks/, [ˈvɛrveks]

Noun

vervēx n (genitive vervēcis); third declension

1. a wether; a castrated ram
2. (derogatory) blockhead, dolt

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vervēx	vervēca
Genitive	vervēcis	vervēcum
Dative	vervēcī	vervēcibus
Accusative	vervēx	vervēca
Ablative	vervēce	vervēcibus
Vocative	vervēx	vervēca

Derived terms

• vervēceus
• vervēcīnus
• vervēlla

Descendants

• Aromanian: birbec
• French: brebis
• Italian: berbice
• Norman: brébis (Jersey)

• Occitan: berbitz
• Romanian: berbec
• Romansch: barbeisch
• Sardinian: berbeche, verveche, brebei
• Walloon: berbis

References

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