ephippium

English

Etymology

From Latin ephippium (“saddlecloth”), from Ancient Greek ἐφίππιον (ephíppion), from ἐπῐ́ (epí) + ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).

Noun

ephippium (plural ephippia)

1. (anatomy) A depression in the sphenoid bone; the pituitary fossa.
2. (zoology) A saddle-shaped cavity to contain the winter eggs, situated on the back of Diplostraca.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “ephippium”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐφίππιον (ephíppion).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eˈpʰip.pi.um/, [ɛˈpʰɪpːiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈfip.pi.um/, [eˈfipːium]

Noun

ephippium n (genitive ephippiī or ephippī); second declension

1. A saddlecloth, horsecloth, or caparison; housing.
2. (New Latin, by extension) A condom.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	ephippium	ephippia
genitive	ephippiī ephippī1	ephippiōrum
dative	ephippiō	ephippiīs
accusative	ephippium	ephippia
ablative	ephippiō	ephippiīs
vocative	ephippium	ephippia

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

Derived terms

• ephippiatus

 

References

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