gubernaculum

English

Alternative forms

• gubernaculum testis
• gubernaculum dentis

Etymology

From Latin gubernāculum (“a helm, rudder”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɡjuː.bəˈnak.jʊl.əm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɡu.bɚˈnæk.jəl.əm/

Noun

gubernaculum (plural gubernacula)

1. A part or structure that serves as a guide:
   1. (embryology) Either of a pair of folds of peritoneum which connects the caudal end of the fetal testis with the bottom of the scrotum in a male fetus, and by failing to elongate in proportion to the rest of the fetus causes the descent of the testis into the scrotum; or an analogous cord of connective tissue attached to the ovary in a female fetus, which is the precursor of the round and ovarian ligaments.
   2. (dentistry) (more fully gubernaculum dentis) A cord or sheath of connective tissue that connects the sac of an unerupted permanent tooth with the surface of the gum.
   3. (zoology) The reproductive tract of an invertebrate, or part of it; especially the section containing the gonophores (in a hydrozoan); a sclerotized structure in the cloaca (in a nematode).
   4. (biology) (rare) A trailing flagellum in certain protists used for steering.

References

• “gubernaculum”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “gubernaculum testis”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “gubernaculum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

From gubernō (“to steer”) +‎ -culum (suffix forming instrument nouns).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ɡu.berˈnaː.ku.lum/, [ɡʊbɛrˈnäːkʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ɡu.berˈna.ku.lum/, [ɡuberˈnäːkulum]

Noun

gubernāculum n (genitive gubernāculī); second declension

1. the steering-oar, helm, rudder
2. management

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gubernāculum	gubernācula
Genitive	gubernāculī	gubernāculōrum
Dative	gubernāculō	gubernāculīs
Accusative	gubernāculum	gubernācula
Ablative	gubernāculō	gubernāculīs
Vocative	gubernāculum	gubernācula

Descendants

• → English: gubernaculum
• Catalan: governall
• Old French: governail
  • French: gouvernail
  • → Middle English: governail, governail, governaill, governaille, governayle, governaylle, governele, governeylle
    • English: governail (archaic)
    • Middle Scots: governall
• Old Occitan: governal
  • → Italian: governale
  • → Italian: governalle
  • → Portuguese: governalhe
• → Old Galician-Portuguese: governallo (semi-learned)
  • Galician: gobernallo
  • Portuguese: governalho
• → Old Spanish: governallo (semi-learned)
  • Spanish: governallo

References

• “gubernaculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gubernaculum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• gubernaculum 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)
• gubernaculum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to hold the reins of government: ad gubernacula (metaph. only in plur.) rei publicae sedere
    
  • to hold the reins of government: gubernacula rei publicae tractare
    
  • to steer: gubernaculum tractare
    
• “gubernaculum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “gubernaculum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• Morwood, James. A Latin Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.