priscus

Latin

Etymology

Supposed to have been earlier *priuscus, from prior, q.v. Equivalent to prius +‎ -cus; ultimately composed of Proto-Indo-European *pre- + *-yōs + *-kos. Possibly cognate to English fresh.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpriːs.kus/, [ˈpriːs̠kʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpris.kus/, [ˈpriskus]

Adjective

prīscus (feminine prīsca, neuter prīscum); first/second-declension adjective

1. former

   Synonyms: prīstinus, senex, vetus

   Antonym: novus

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 1.197–198:

     plūrīs opēs nunc sunt quam prīscī temporis annīs,
     dum populus pauper, dum nova Rōma fuit, [...]

     Now wealth is more valued than it was in years of former times,
     when the nation was poor, when Rome was new, [...]

2. ancient

   Synonyms: antīquus, longinquus, vetustus

   Antonym: recēns

3. old-fashioned

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	prīscus	prīsca	prīscum		prīscī	prīscae	prīsca
genitive	prīscī	prīscae	prīscī		prīscōrum	prīscārum	prīscōrum
dative	prīscō	prīscae	prīscō		prīscīs
accusative	prīscum	prīscam	prīscum		prīscōs	prīscās	prīsca
ablative	prīscō	prīscā	prīscō		prīscīs
vocative	prīsce	prīsca	prīscum		prīscī	prīscae	prīsca

Derived terms

• Prīsca Latīna
• Prīsca Latīnitās

Descendants

• Italian: prisco
• Portuguese: prisco

See also

• prīstinus

References

• “priscus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “priscus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• priscus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to go back to the remote ages: repetere ab ultima (extrema, prisca) antiquitate (vetustate), ab heroicis temporibus
    
  • obsolete, ambiguous expressions: prisca, obsoleta (opp. usitata), ambigua verba
    
• “priscus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “priscus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray