Etymologically
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cadaver

Etymology and origin of the Latin word cadaver

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kaˈdaː.wɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈdaː.ver][1]

Forms

cadāver n (genitive cadāveris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is usually derived from cadere “to fall”, as “the fallen”, a view already found in ancient writers such as Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Isidore of Seville.[2][3][1][4] Walde and Hofmann explained it as a perfect active participle *kadā-wes- “having fallen”, which de Vaan finds fine in meaning but hard to explain in form: the origin of the ā is unclear, and so is why the neuter became a noun.[5] The OLD compares the ending of papāver.[2] Lewis and Short compare Ancient Greek πτῶμα (ptôma, “corpse”), from πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”).[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from an early inscription and Cicero onwards,[5] and Köbler from the law of the grove of Luceria, after 315 BC.[7] Lucretius uses it for loathsome corpses.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a dead body, of humans or animals, as of slaves and criminals left unburied, soldiers fallen in battle and diseased livestock.[6][8] Georges notes that it was the technical term, while corpus mortuum or corpus was a euphemism.[8] As a term of abuse Cicero calls Piso a cadaver, and Seneca the Elder speaks of “living corpses”.[2][6] Servius Sulpicius, writing to Cicero, calls ruined cities oppidum cadavera “corpses of towns”.[2][6]

Medieval writers used it for corpses and dead bodies of animals.[9] It survives as French cadavre and Italian cadavere, and English borrowed it in the late 14th century.[1][4]

Timeline

  • after 315 BC – It appears in the law of the grove of Luceria.[7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius writes of loathsome corpses.[6][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as an insult.[2][7]
  • 45 BC – Servius Sulpicius calls ruined towns corpses.[2]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as English cadaver.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dead body, corpse, carcass.[2][6]
  2. (contemptuous) A worthless or maimed person.[2]
  3. (figurative) The ruins of a city.[2]

Word family

  • cadāverōsus
  • cadō
  • English cadaver

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Cadaver.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cadaver. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on .