morsus

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Latin

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of mordeō (“I bite”).

Participle

morsus (feminine morsa, neuter morsum); first/second-declension participle

  1. bitten, eaten, devoured, consumed, having been bitten
  2. (figuratively) stung, pained, hurt, bitten, having been stung
Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative morsus morsa morsum morsī morsae morsa
Genitive morsī morsae morsī morsōrum morsārum morsōrum
Dative morsō morsō morsīs
Accusative morsum morsam morsum morsōs morsās morsa
Ablative morsō morsā morsō morsīs
Vocative morse morsa morsum morsī morsae morsa

Etymology 2

mordeō (“I bite”) +‎ -sus (action noun).

Noun

morsus m (genitive morsūs); fourth declension

  1. a bite, sting
    • 524 CE, Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 3.7m:
      voluptăs omnis
      apiumque pār volantum
      ubi grāta mella fūdit,
      fugit et nimis tenācī
      ferit icta corda morsū.
      every pleasure , like swarming bees, it pours out delightful honey and then flees, hitting our beaten hearts with a long-lasting sting.
  2. (figuratively) pain, vexation, bite, sting
  3. (by extension) sharpness of flavor, sharp taste, pungency
  4. (by extension) jaw, tooth, fang, fluke (of an anchor)
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.168–169:
      Hīc fessās nōn vincula nāvēs
      ūlla tenent, uncō nōn alligat ancora morsū.
      Here not any cables tying weary ships, nor anchor with barbed fluke holding fast.
      (An anchor “bites” the sand not unlike a tooth.)
Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative morsus morsūs
Genitive morsūs morsuum
Dative morsuī morsibus
Accusative morsum morsūs
Ablative morsū morsibus
Vocative morsus morsūs
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Catalan: mos
  • Middle French: mors
  • Italian: morso
  • Spanish: mueso

References

  • “morsus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “morsus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • morsus 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)
  • morsus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • the pain is very severe: acer morsus doloris est (Tusc. 2. 22. 53)
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