sceptrum
Appearance
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Ancient Greek σκῆπτρον (skêptron), derived from σκήπτω (skḗptō, “to press one thing against another”) + -τρον (-tron, instrument noun suffix).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈskeːp.trum/, [ˈs̠keːpt̪rʊ̃ˑ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈʃep.trum/, [ˈʃɛpt̪rum]
Noun
[edit]scēptrum n (genitive scēptrī); second declension
- sceptre (royal staff, symbol of authority)
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.56–57:
- [...] celsā sedet Aeolus arce
scēptra tenēns, mollitque animōs et temperat īrās.- [King] Aeolus sits in his high citadel, holding his scepter, and [he is] soothing the passions [of the winds] and tempering their angry spirits.
(Figuratively, by holding his scepter the king is wielding his authority. Note the poetic plural [sceptra] used in place of the singular [sceptrum]. See Aeolus (son of Hippotes).)
- [King] Aeolus sits in his high citadel, holding his scepter, and [he is] soothing the passions [of the winds] and tempering their angry spirits.
- [...] celsā sedet Aeolus arce
Declension
[edit]Second-declension noun (neuter).
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | scēptrum | scēptra |
genitive | scēptrī | scēptrōrum |
dative | scēptrō | scēptrīs |
accusative | scēptrum | scēptra |
ablative | scēptrō | scēptrīs |
vocative | scēptrum | scēptra |
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- “sceptrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “sceptrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- sceptrum 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)
- sceptrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “sceptrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “sceptrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Categories:
- Latin terms borrowed from Ancient Greek
- Latin terms derived from Ancient Greek
- Latin 2-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin second declension nouns
- Latin neuter nouns in the second declension
- Latin neuter nouns
- Latin terms with quotations
- Latin terms suffixed with -trum