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quercus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
quercus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
quercus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
quercus you have here. The definition of the word
quercus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
quercus, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *kʷerkus, assimilated from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus ~ *pr̥kʷéu- (“oak”). Compare Old Norse fýri (as in fýriskógr (“pine-wood”), Punjabi ਪਰਗਾਇ (pargāī, “holm oak”). See also English fir.
Pronunciation
Noun
quercus f (genitive quercūs); fourth declension
- an oak, oak-tree, especially the Italian oak
29 BCE – 19 BCE,
Virgil,
Aeneid 4.441–443:
- Ac velut annōsō validam cum rōbore quercum
Alpīnī Boreae nunc hinc nunc flātibus illinc
ēruere inter sē certant; .- And just as a mighty oak with strength in age, when Alpine Northwinds — by blows, now this side, now that — compete among themselves to uproot ; .
- (poetic) something made from oak wood (e.g., an oaken ship, an oaken javelin, etc.)
Usage notes
The Italian oak was considered sacred to the god Jupiter.
Declension
Fourth-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -ubus).
Derived terms
Descendants
See also
References
- “quercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “quercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- quercus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.