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dentatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word dentatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin dēns
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin dens
French dent
Italian dente
Latin dentatus
From the same root
Latin bidens ← dens

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɛnˈtaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [denˈtaː.tus][1]

Forms

dentātus (feminine dentāta, neuter dentātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēns (“tooth”) + -ātus.[2][3][4] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *dent- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃d-nt- (“tooth”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Plautus on, and notes that as a cognomen it is said to have been given as early as the 5th century BC to Siccius Dentatus.[3] In Plautus it describes a man well provided with teeth.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means having teeth, or prominent teeth: Ovid writes sī male dentāta est, of a girl whose teeth are bad.[2][7] It was applied to the larger carnivores,[2] and Ammianus calls the wild beasts of the arena dentātae bēstiae.[7] Pliny the Elder says that Manius Curius was surnamed Dentatus because he was born with teeth.[7][6]

It was also used of implements and devices fitted with teeth, spikes or cogs, as in Varro's threshing sledge,[2] and of paper polished with ivory, charta dentāta, in a letter of Cicero.[2][7] English took it in 1770 as dentate, “toothed”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a man with good teeth.[5][6][9]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a toothed threshing sledge.[2][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of paper polished with ivory.[2][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a girl with bad teeth.[2][9]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder explains the cognomen of Manius Curius.[7][9]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of the wild beasts of the arena.[7][9]
  • 1770 – English borrows it as dentate.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having teeth, or prominent teeth; of the larger carnivores, fanged.[2][7]
  2. Of implements and devices: Toothed, spiked, fitted with cogs.[2]
  3. Of paper: polished with ivory.[2][7]
  • ēdentulus
  • English dentate

Usage notes

As a cognomen, Dentātus was borne by Manius Curius, whom Pliny the Elder says was born with teeth.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Dentatus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/dentatus. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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