iacens

Latin

Etymology

Present active participle of iaceō (“lie prostrate, recline”).

Participle

iacēns (genitive iacentis); third-declension one-termination participle

1. lying prostrate, lying down; reclining
2. lying ill, being sick
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.411–412:

     ōscula saepe dedit, dīxit quoque saepe iacentī
     ‘vīvē, precor, nec mē, care, relinque, pater!’

     Often [Achilles] gave kisses; often, too, he said to [Chiron] lying ill [there]: “Live! I pray, and don’t leave me, dear father.”
     (An accident has mortally wounded the centaur Chiron, tutor to young Achilles, who expresses devotion as might a son to his dying father.)

3. lingering, tarrying
4. being placed or situated, lying
5. being low, flat or level
6. lying still
7. lying dead
8. lying in ruins
9. hanging down loose
10. (of the face or eyes) being fixed on the ground, being cast down
11. being indolent, idle or inactive
12. lying dormant or abandoned, being of no avail
13. lying overthrown; being refuted; being despised
14. (of speech or language) being languid, dull or lifeless

Declension

Third-declension participle.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	iacēns			iacentēs	iacentia
genitive	iacentis			iacentium
dative	iacentī			iacentibus
accusative	iacentem	iacēns		iacentēs iacentīs	iacentia
ablative	iacente iacentī1			iacentibus
vocative	iacēns			iacentēs	iacentia

¹When used purely as an adjective.

References

• “iacens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• iacens in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to inspire the spiritless and prostrate with new vigour: excitare animum iacentem et afflictum (opp. frangere animum)