Claudius

English

Etymology

From Latin Claudius. Doublet of Claude.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈklɔdiəs/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈklɔːdiəs/

Proper noun

Claudius

1. A male given name from Latin.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 24:25-26:

     And he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

2. The Roman emperor "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus"

Related terms

• Claud
• Claude
• Claudia
• Claudian

Translations

Roman Emperor

• Bulgarian: Кла́вдий m (Klávdij)
• Greek: Κλαύδιος (el) m (Klávdios)

  Ancient: Κλαύδιος m (Klaúdios)

• Latin: Claudius (la) m

Latin

Alternative forms

• Clōdius

Etymology

Traditionally said to be from claudus (“lame, limping, crippled”), however, family history relates that the name was adopted as the Romanized form of an earlier Clausus, the Latin spelling of an original Sabine name. A Sabine word cognate with clausus (“shut, closed”), perfect passive participle of claudō (“I shut, close”) seems a more probable origin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈklau̯.di.us/, [ˈkɫ̪äu̯d̪iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈklau̯.di.us/, [ˈkläːu̯d̪ius]

Proper noun

Claudius m (genitive Claudiī or Claudī, feminine Claudia); second declension

1. A Roman gens name.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Claudius	Claudiī
Genitive	Claudiī Claudī1	Claudiōrum
Dative	Claudiō	Claudiīs
Accusative	Claudium	Claudiōs
Ablative	Claudiō	Claudiīs
Vocative	Claudī	Claudiī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• Claudia

Descendants

• English: Claude
• French: Claude
• Galician: Clodio
• Italian: Claudio
• Portuguese: Cláudio
• Romanian: Claudiu
• Spanish: Claudio

References

• “Claudius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Claudius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.