Velitrae

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain; has been explained as Etruscan, from the same stem as Latin Volsiniī and Volscī. Reflected as Ancient Greek Οὐέλιτραι (Ouélitrai).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯e.li.trae̯/, [ˈu̯ɛlʲɪt̪räe̯] or IPA^(key): /u̯eˈlit.rae̯/, [u̯ɛˈlʲɪt̪räe̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈve.li.tre/, [ˈvɛːlit̪re] or IPA^(key): /veˈlit.re/, [veˈlit̪re]
• Note: the second syllable scans as heavy in the only two occurrences in hexameter poetry by Silius Italicus. However, the Ancient Greek and the modern form of the name suggest the vowel was actually short. The heavy scansion may result from the freedom to syllabify intervocalic [tr] as [t.r] in poetry, or perhaps poetic lengthening of the vowel.

Proper noun

Velī̆trae f pl (genitive Velī̆trārum); first declension

1. A city in Latium, situated on the southern slope of the Alban hills, now Velletri

Declension

First-declension noun, with locative, plural only.

	plural
nominative	Velī̆trae
genitive	Velī̆trārum
dative	Velī̆trīs
accusative	Velī̆trās
ablative	Velī̆trīs
vocative	Velī̆trae
locative	Velī̆trīs

Derived terms

• Velī̆ternīnus
• Velī̆ternī
• Velī̆ternus

Descendants

• Italian: Vellétri; Vellétre (locally)

Further reading

• “Velitrae”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Velitrae”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• Velitrae in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.