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fauces

Etymology and origin of the Latin word fauces

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfau̯.keːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfaːu̯.t͡ʃes][1]

Forms

faucēs f pl (genitive faucium); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3][4] Isidore derived it from pouring out voices or from fārī “to speak”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who tells someone to hawk up from deep in the throat.[2][3][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was the upper part of the throat, the pharynx, as the passage of breath, the source of the voice and the gullet used for swallowing, and the jaws or maw of beasts, often figuratively, as Cicero's city snatched from the jaws of war.[4] It was also the outside of the throat, the neck.[4]

By transfer it was any narrow entrance: the mouth of a harbour, a pass into a country, as Cicero's camp in the jaws of Etruria, the entrance of a building, a volcano's crater, a strait, as Virgil's straits of Abydos.[4] Isidore explains narrow passes between mountains as named from their likeness to the throat.[5] The singular is used only in the ablative fauce, and Varro notes the gap.[4] Its compound suffōcō “to choke” gave English suffocate in the early 15th century, and English faucet may come from it through Old French fausset.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of hawking from the throat.[4][3]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius speaks of the entrance of a pass.[4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a camp in the jaws of Etruria.[4][3]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil speaks of the straits of Abydos.[4][3]
  • early 15th century – English suffocate is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The upper part of the throat, pharynx; the windpipe, gullet.[4]
  2. (of beasts) The jaws, maw.[4]
  3. The neck.[4]
  4. A narrow entrance: the mouth of a harbour or river; a pass, defile; a gateway; a crater.[4]
  5. A narrow passage of sea, a strait.[4]

Word family

  • suffōcō
  • praefōcō
  • gula
  • guttur
  • English suffocate

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes faucēs, the entrance of the throat, from gula and guttur, the gullet and windpipe.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Fauces.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fauces. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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