cereus

See also: Cereus

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

From the genus name. Doublet of serge.

Noun

cereus (plural cereuses)

1. Any of the genus Cereus of plants of the cactus family, natives to the Americas, from California to Chile.

Anagrams

• Creuse, Rescue, ceruse, cursee, recuse, rescue, secuer, secure

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkeː.re.us/, [ˈkeːreʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃe.re.us/, [ˈt͡ʃɛːreus]

Etymology 1

From cēra (“wax”).

Adjective

cēreus (feminine cērea, neuter cēreum); first/second-declension adjective

1. of wax, waxen
2. of the colour of wax
3. of the properties of wax; soft, pliant
4. (figuratively) easily moved, swayed or persuaded

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cēreus	cērea	cēreum		cēreī	cēreae	cērea
Genitive	cēreī	cēreae	cēreī		cēreōrum	cēreārum	cēreōrum
Dative	cēreō		cēreō		cēreīs
Accusative	cēreum	cēream	cēreum		cēreōs	cēreās	cērea
Ablative	cēreō	cēreā	cēreō		cēreīs
Vocative	cēree	cērea	cēreum		cēreī	cēreae	cērea

Derived terms

• cēreolus

Descendants

• Catalan: ceri
• Galician: céreo
• Italian: cereo
• Portuguese: céreo
• Spanish: céreo

Etymology 2

Substantive from cēreus fūnis (“waxen cord”).

Noun

cēreus m (genitive cēreī); second declension

1. a wax taper or light, particularly those that were brought by clients to their patrons as presents at the time of the Saturnalia

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cēreus	cēreī
Genitive	cēreī	cēreōrum
Dative	cēreō	cēreīs
Accusative	cēreum	cēreōs
Ablative	cēreō	cēreīs
Vocative	cēree	cēreī

Descendants

• Dalmatian:
  • cir
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: cero
• Padanian:
  • Piedmontese: siri
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: ciéro
  • French: cierge
    • →? Franco-Provençal: ciérjo
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: ciri
  • Occitan: ciri
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Portuguese: círio
  • Spanish: cirio
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: chíriu

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)	rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeus, grīseus (ML. or NL.)	niger, āter, piceus, furvus
ruber, rūfus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceus, murrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius	rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)	flāvus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
galbus, galbinus, lūridus	viridis	prasinus
cȳaneus	caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), blāvus (LL.)	glaucus; līvidus; venetus
violāceus, ianthinus, balaustīnus (NL.)	ostrīnus, amethystīnus	purpureus, ātropurpureus, roseus, rosāceus

References

• “cereus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cereus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cereus 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)
• cereus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “cereus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers