excidium

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /eksˈki.di.um/, [ɛks̠ˈkɪd̪iʊ̃ˑ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eksˈt͡ʃi.di.um/, [eksˈt͡ʃiːd̪ium]

Etymology 1

From exscindō (“I annihilate, extirpate”) +‎ -ium, from scindō (“I rend, destroy”), compare discidium (“disagreement, discord”). Sometimes construed by folk-etymology as from excīdō (“I cut out, destroy”) +‎ -ium.

Alternative forms

exscidium

Noun

excidium n (genitive excidiī or excidī); second declension

demolition, destruction (especially military), ruin
Synonyms: dēstrūctiō, lētum, ruīna, excidiō, dēmōlītiō, vāstātiō, devāstātiō, perniciēs, pestis, perditiō, exitium

De Excidio Britanniae ― On the Ruin of Britain
massacre, slaughter, killing
Synonyms: occīsiō, lētum, homicīdium, nex, occīdiō

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	excidium	excidia
genitive	excidiī excidī¹	excidiōrum
dative	excidiō	excidiīs
accusative	excidium	excidia
ablative	excidiō	excidiīs
vocative	excidium	excidia

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

Etymology 2

From excidō +‎ -ium, from cadō (“I fall”).

Noun

excidium n (genitive excidiī or excidī); second declension

the setting of the sun

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	excidium	excidia
genitive	excidiī excidī¹	excidiōrum
dative	excidiō	excidiīs
accusative	excidium	excidia
ablative	excidiō	excidiīs
vocative	excidium	excidia

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

References

“excidium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“excidium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
excidium in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
"excidium", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
excidium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.