orbus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos (“orphan”), from *h₃erbʰ- (“to change ownership”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “orphaned”), Sanskrit अर्भ (árbha, “small”), Old Armenian որբ (orb, “orphan”). Compare Late Latin orphanus.

PIE word
*h₃órbʰos

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈor.bus/, [ˈɔrbʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈor.bus/, [ˈɔrbus]

Adjective

orbus (feminine orba, neuter orbum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (with genitive or ab + ablative) bereaved, bereft, deprived (of) by death
   1. orphaned, parentless; fatherless
   2. childless
   3. widowed
2. (in general, with genitive, ablative or ab) deprived, destitute (of)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	orbus	orba	orbum		orbī	orbae	orba
Genitive	orbī	orbae	orbī		orbōrum	orbārum	orbōrum
Dative	orbō		orbō		orbīs
Accusative	orbum	orbam	orbum		orbōs	orbās	orba
Ablative	orbō	orbā	orbō		orbīs
Vocative	orbe	orba	orbum		orbī	orbae	orba

Derived terms

• orba
• orbitās
• orbō
• Orbōna

Related terms

• orbātiō
• orbātor

Descendants

In all descendants the term acquired the meaning “blind”, from a construction such as *orbus ab oculīs (“deprived of eyes”).

• ōrbus
  • → Proto-Albanian: *u̯œrbana-
    • Albanian: verbër
• Aromanian: orbu
• Catalan: orb
• Dalmatian: vuarb, uarb
• Friulian: vuarb
• Istriot: uorbo
• Italian: orbo
• Occitan: òrb
• Old French: orbe
• Romanian: orb
• Romansch: tschorv, orv, orb
• Sicilian: orbu, orvu
• Spanish: orbo, huerbo
• Venetan: orbo

References

• “orbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “orbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• orbus 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)
• orbus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “orbus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin