auspex

English

Noun

auspex (plural auspices)

1. (historical) An officiating priest in Ancient Rome.

Latin

Etymology

From *avi-spex (“who examines (the flight of) the birds”), equivalent to avis, avi- (“bird”) +‎ specere, speciō (“to watch, observe”) +‎ -s, with contraction of avi- to au- (compare auceps). See also haruspex.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯s.peks/, [ˈäu̯s̠pɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯s.peks/, [ˈäu̯speks]

Noun

auspex m (genitive auspicis); third declension

1. an augur
2. an officiating priest

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	auspex	auspicēs
Genitive	auspicis	auspicum
Dative	auspicī	auspicibus
Accusative	auspicem	auspicēs
Ablative	auspice	auspicibus
Vocative	auspex	auspicēs

Synonyms

• augur

Coordinate terms

• haruspex, auspex

Derived terms

• auspicium

Descendants

• → Koine Greek: αὔσπιξ (aúspix)
• Italian: auspice
• Portuguese: áuspice

References

• “auspex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “auspex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• auspex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “auspex”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “auspex”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin