cenotaphium

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κενοτᾰ́φῐον (kenotáphion, “empty tomb”), from κενός (kenós, “empty”) +‎ τᾰ́φος (táphos, “grave, tomb”) +‎ -ῐον (-ion, noun suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ke.noˈta.pʰi.um/, [kɛnɔˈt̪äpʰiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /t͡ʃe.noˈta.fi.um/, [t͡ʃenoˈt̪äːfium]

Noun

cenotaphium n (genitive cenotaphiī or cenotaphī); second declension

1. empty tomb, cenotaph

   Synonym: honōrārium

   • c. 64 BCE – 17 BCE, Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae 273.12
   • Aelius Lampridius, Augustan History: Severus Alexander 63.3
   • Flavius Vopiscus, Augustan History 15.1
   • 533 CE, Justinian, Digest 11.7.6

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	cenotaphium	cenotaphia
genitive	cenotaphiī cenotaphī1	cenotaphiōrum
dative	cenotaphiō	cenotaphiīs
accusative	cenotaphium	cenotaphia
ablative	cenotaphiō	cenotaphiīs
vocative	cenotaphium	cenotaphia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

References

• “cenotaphium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press