auceps syllabarum

Latin

FWOTD – 4 September 2022

Etymology

From auceps (“bird-catcher”) + syllabārum (“of syllables”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.keps syl.laˈbaː.rum/, [ˈäu̯kɛps̠ s̠ʏlːʲäˈbäːrʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈau̯.t͡ʃeps sil.laˈba.rum/, [ˈäːu̯t͡ʃeps silːäˈbäːrum]

Noun

auceps syllabārum m (genitive aucupis syllabārum); third declension

1. (derogatory, humorous, hapax) a person who quibbles over words, argues over semantics or other technicalities; a pettifogger
   • 55 BCE, Cicero, De Oratore 1.236.7:

     Ita est tibi iūris cōnsultus ipse per sē nihil nisi lēguleius quīdam cautus et acūtus, praecō āctiōnum, cantor fōrmulārum, auceps syllabārum.

     And as a result, a lawyer in and of himself ends up being merely some kind of diligent and shrewd legal tradesman, a crier of legal actions, a singer of legal formulas, a trapper of syllables.

Declension

Third-declension noun with an indeclinable portion.

	singular	plural
nominative	auceps syllabārum	aucupēs syllabārum
genitive	aucupis syllabārum	aucupum syllabārum
dative	aucupī syllabārum	aucupibus syllabārum
accusative	aucupem syllabārum	aucupēs syllabārum
ablative	aucupe syllabārum	aucupibus syllabārum
vocative	auceps syllabārum	aucupēs syllabārum