Wiktionary

cuniculus

See also: Cuniculus

English

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin cunīculus.

Noun

edit

cuniculus (plural cuniculi)

  1. A burrow or low underground passage, such as a rabbit warren, mine, or catacomb.
    Synonym: latibulum (obsolete)
  2. A burrow in the skin made by a mite.
edit

Latin

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

Perhaps some Iberian or Celtiberian word + the Latin diminutive -ulus or -culus. Compare Basque untxi (“rabbit”), Mozarabic conchair (“greyhound”). Attested from Varro onward.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

cunī̆culus m (genitive cunī̆culī); second declension

  1. a rabbit
  2. a rabbit burrow
  3. a mine, underground tunnel or gallery
    • 2015, Tuomo Pekkanen, Nuntii Latini 7.8.2015:https://areena.yle.fi/1-2864830
      Greges migratorum, qui diversis viis ex Africa vel Asia in Europam venerunt, in proximitatem urbis Caleti (Calais) convenerunt, unde brevissima est in Britanniam per cuniculum traiectio.
      Groups of migrants, coming into Europe by various routes from Africa and Asia, came together near the city of Calais, where it is but a short passage to Britain through the tunnel.

Declension

edit

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cunīculus cunīculī
Genitive cunīculī cunīculōrum
Dative cunīculō cunīculīs
Accusative cunīculum cunīculōs
Ablative cunīculō cunīculīs
Vocative cunīcule cunīculī
edit

Descendants

edit
Borrowings

References

edit
  1. ^ Joan Coromines, José A. Pascual (1984) “conejo”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volumes II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 173

Further reading

edit
  • “cuniculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “cuniculus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • cuniculus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • cuniculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to make mines, subterraneous passages: cuniculos agere (B. G. 3. 21)
  • “cuniculus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “cuniculus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=cuniculus&oldid=80759189"