dentilegus

Latin

Etymology

Coined by Plautus, from dēns (“tooth”) +‎ -legus (suffix meaning “the one who gathers”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /denˈti.le.ɡus/, [d̪ɛn̪ˈt̪ɪɫ̪ɛɡʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /denˈti.le.ɡus/, [d̪en̪ˈt̪iːleɡus]

Noun

dentilegus m (genitive dentilegī); second declension

1. (hapax, humorous) someone who picks up teeth from the ground; a tooth-gatherer.
   • c. 200 BCE – 190 BCE, Plautus, Captivi 798:

     dentilegos omnes mortales faciam, quemque offendero.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	dentilegus	dentilegī
genitive	dentilegī	dentilegōrum
dative	dentilegō	dentilegīs
accusative	dentilegum	dentilegōs
ablative	dentilegō	dentilegīs
vocative	dentilege	dentilegī

References

• “dentilegus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dentilegus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.