casus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkaː.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.s̬us]^[1]

Forms

cāsus m (genitive cāsūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cadō (“to fall”) + -tus, from earlier cāssus.^[2][1] The verb is inherited from Proto-Italic *kad-e/o-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d- (“to fall”).^[3] The grammatical sense “case” is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek πτῶσις (ptôsis, “a falling, case”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[3] who has a character say that a fall gave great pleasure.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense was a fall, a downward movement of people, rain or snow.^[2][5] From what “befalls” it meant chance and accident, an event or occurrence, and especially a misfortune or disaster.^[2] Grammarians used it of the ending of a word and of grammatical case.^[2][1] Döderlein distinguishes cāsus, chance as a natural agent, from fors, chance thought of as a kind of divine being.^[6] In Cicero's time the s was written double, ⟨cassus⟩.^[5]

In medieval Latin it was a legal problem in a treatise, a lawsuit, a cause and a subject.^[7] It survives in Italian caso and Spanish caso, and through Old French cas English case meant “what befalls one” in the early 13th century.^[1][8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a fall.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of chance and of misfortune.^[2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the endings of words.^[2][4]
• early 13th century – English case “what befalls one” is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fall, downward movement.^[2]
2. (grammar) An ending; a case.^[2][1]
3. chance, accident.^[2]
4. An event, occurrence.^[2]
5. A misfortune, disaster.^[2]
6. (Medieval Latin) A legal problem; a lawsuit; a cause, ground.^[7]

Word family

• cāsuālis

Related words

• cadō
• occāsiō
• English case
• English casual
• English occasion

Usage notes

Isidore explains the grammatical cases as named from falling, because nouns vary and “fall” through them.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).