quercus

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See also: Quercus

Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *kʷerkus, assimilated from Proto-Indo-European *pérkus ~ *pr̥kʷéu- (oak). Compare Old Norse fýri (as in fýriskógr (pine-wood), Punjabi ਪਰਗਾਇ (pargāī, holm oak). See also English fir.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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quercus f (genitive quercūs); fourth declension

  1. an oak, oak-tree, especially the Italian oak
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.441–443:
      Ac velut annōsō validam cum rōbore quercum
      Alpīnī Boreae nunc hinc nunc flātibus illinc
      ēruere inter sē certant; [...].
      And just as a mighty oak with strength in age, when Alpine Northwinds — by [their] blows, now [to] this side, now that — compete among themselves to uproot [it]; [...].
  2. (poetic) something made from oak wood (e.g., an oaken ship, an oaken javelin, etc.)

Usage notes

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The Italian oak was considered sacred to the god Jupiter.

Declension

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Fourth-declension noun (dative/ablative plural in -ubus)
singular plural
nominative quercus quercūs
genitive quercūs quercuum
dative quercuī quercubus
accusative quercum quercūs
ablative quercū quercubus
vocative quercus quercūs

Derived terms

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Descendants

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See also

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References

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  • quercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • quercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • quercus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.