tonsillae

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Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *tonslilā (singular), from *tonslis +‎ *-elā (diminutive). Equivalent to tōlēs (tonsillitis, goitre) +‎ -ulae.

Pronunciation

Noun

tōnsillae f pl (genitive tōnsillārum); first declension

  1. inflection of tōnsilla:
    1. genitive/dative singular
    2. nominative/vocative plural
  2. (anatomy) the tonsils
    • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 11.175:
      Tonsillae in homine, in sue glandulae. quod inter eas uvae nomine ultimo dependet palato, homini tantum est.
      Man has tonsils, the pig glands. Man alone has what is called the uvula hanging from the back of the palate between the tonsils.

Inflection

First-declension noun, plural only.

plural
nominative tōnsillae
genitive tōnsillārum
dative tōnsillīs
accusative tōnsillās
ablative tōnsillīs
vocative tōnsillae

Descendants

  • French: tonsille sg
    • English: tonsil

References

  • tonsilla”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “tonsillae”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 693
  • tonsillae”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers