cadaver Latin · revision 666

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [kaˈdaː.wɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈdaː.ver]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cadāver''' ''n'' (genitive cadāveris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is usually derived from [[cado|alt=cadere]] “to fall”, as “the fallen”, a view already found in ancient writers such as Tertullian, Jerome, Augustine and Isidore of Seville.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) 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.^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD compares the ending of [[papaver|alt=papāver]].^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short compare [[grc|πτῶμα|tr=ptôma|t=corpse]], from [[m|grc|πίπτω|tr=píptō|t=to fall]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from an early inscription and Cicero onwards,^(de Vaan 2008) and Köbler from the law of the grove of Luceria, after 315 BC.^(Köbler 2010) Lucretius uses it for loathsome [[m|en|corpse|alt=corpses]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==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.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Georges notes that it was the technical term, while ''corpus mortuum'' or ''corpus'' was a euphemism.^(Georges 1913) As a term of abuse Cicero calls Piso a ''cadaver'', and Seneca the Elder speaks of “living corpses”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Servius Sulpicius, writing to Cicero, calls ruined cities ''oppidum cadavera'' “corpses of towns”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers used it for corpses and dead bodies of animals.^(MLW) It survives as French ''cadavre'' and Italian ''cadavere'', and English borrowed it in the late 14th century.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * after 315 BC – It appears in the law of the grove of Luceria.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius writes of loathsome corpses.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as an insult.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 45 BC – Servius Sulpicius calls ruined towns corpses.^(OLD 2012)

+ * late 14th century – English borrows it as [[en|cadaver]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dead body, [[m|en|corpse]], carcass.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(contemptuous)'' A worthless or maimed person.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The ruins of a city.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cadāverōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cadō]]

+ * [[en|cadaver]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}