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edax

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word edax

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ed-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin edo
Latin editus
Latin edax
Latin comedo
Latin editor
English editor
Latin exedo
Latin esurio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛ.daːks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛː.daks][1]

Forms

edāx (genitive edācis, comparative edācior, superlative edācissimus); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] The ablative singular is edācī;[2][3] Seneca has the superlative edācissimus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin edō (“to eat”) + -āx.[4][1][2] De Vaan traces edō to Proto-Italic *ed- (“to eat”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”), comparing Oscan edum (“to eat”), Sanskrit अद्मि (ádmi, “I eat”) and Ancient Greek ἔδω (édō, “to eat”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is voracious or gluttonous: Terence's prologue names the greedy parasite among stock characters, and Cicero and Horace use it too.[4][3] Of fire, poison or time it is devouring or destructive: Virgil has devouring fire rolling up to the rooftops.[4] Of care, envy or grief it is consuming or gnawing: Horace says Bacchus scatters gnawing cares.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[5][3][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of a greedy parasite.[4][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of devouring fire.[4][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of gnawing cares.[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Voracious, gluttonous, greedy.[4][3][1]
  2. Of fire, time and the like, devouring, destructive.[4][1]
  3. Of care or grief, consuming, gnawing.[4]

Word family

  • edācitās
  • inedax

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Edax.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/edax. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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