versicolor

Latin

Alternative forms

• versicolōrus, versicolōrius (Post-Classical collateral form)

Etymology

From versō (“turn”) + color (“colour”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯erˈsi.ko.lor/, [u̯ɛrˈs̠ɪkɔɫ̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /verˈsi.ko.lor/, [verˈsiːkolor]

Adjective

versicolor (genitive versicolōris); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. particoloured; of various colours; that changes its colour

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	versicolor			versicolōrēs	versicolōria
genitive	versicolōris			versicolōrium
dative	versicolōrī			versicolōribus
accusative	versicolōrem	versicolor		versicolōrēs	versicolōria
ablative	versicolōre versicolōrī			versicolōribus
vocative	versicolor			versicolōrēs	versicolōria

Quotations

• Propertius. In: Propertius with an English translation by H. E. Butler, 1916, p. 198f.:

  sed Chio thalamo aut Oricia terebintho
  et fultum pluma versicolore caput.

  his rather to lie in a chamber of Chian marble or on a couch of Orician terebinth, his head propped on down of rainbow hues.

• Publius Ovidius Naso, Fasti. In: Ovid's Fasti with an English translation by Sir James George Frazer, 1959, p. 286f.:

  cur tamen, ut dantur vestes Cerialibus albae,
  sic haec est cultu versicolore decens ?

  But why is it that whereas white robes are given out at the festival of Ceres, Flora is neatly clad in attire of many colours ?

Derived terms

• versicolōria

Descendants

• Italian: versicolore

References

• “versicolor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “versicolor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• versicolor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.