pernicies

Latin

Etymology

From pernecō (“kill, slay outright”) +‎ -iēs.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /perˈni.ki.eːs/, [pɛrˈnɪkieːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /perˈni.t͡ʃi.es/, [perˈniːt͡ʃies]

Noun

perniciēs f (genitive perniciēī); fifth declension

1. ruin, destruction

   Synonyms: dēstrūctiō, excidium, lētum, pestis, ruīna, interitus, excidiō, dēmōlītiō, vāstātiō, devāstātiō, perditiō, exitium

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 1.36:

     Quod sibi Caesar denuntiaret se Haeduorum iniurias non neglecturum, neminem secum sine sua pernicie contendisse.

     As to Caesar’s threatening him that he would not overlook the wrongs of the Aedui, [he said] that no one had ever entered into a contest with him [Ariovistus] without utter ruin to himself.

2. disaster, calamity

   Synonyms: dētrīmentum, incommodum, clādēs, incommoditās, calamitās, cāsus, vulnus, exitium

3. bane, pest
4. (figurative) execution, death

   Synonyms: occīsiō, mors, fūnus, interitus, fātum, exitus, somnus, fīnis, sopor, caedēs

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	perniciēs	perniciēs
Genitive	perniciēī	perniciērum
Dative	perniciēī	perniciēbus
Accusative	perniciem	perniciēs
Ablative	perniciē	perniciēbus
Vocative	perniciēs	perniciēs

Derived terms

• perniciābilis
• perniciālis
• perniciōsē
• perniciōsus

 

Related terms

• perniciō

Descendants

• → Italian: pernizie (semi-learned), → pernicie (learned)
• → Romanian: pernicie

References

• “pernicies”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pernicies”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pernicies in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be ruined, undone: in perniciem incurrere
    
  • to compass, devise a man's overthrow, ruin: perniciem (exitium) alicui afferre, moliri, parare