fomes

English edit

Etymology edit

From medical Latin fōmes (“fomite”), a figurative extension of its original sense of kindling, tinder, &c. Gradually supplanted in use by fomite, a mistaken backformation of its plural form fomites, from Latin fōmitēs.

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfəʊmiːz/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊ.miːz/

Noun edit

fomes (plural fomites)

(obsolete, medicine) The morbid matter created by a disease.
- 1773, Gentleman's Magazine, number 43, page 554:
  If this putrid ferment could be more immediately corrected, a stop would probably be put to the flux, and the fomes of the disease likewise removed.
(archaic, medicine) Synonym of fomite: a substance able to communicate infection between people.
Toys are common fomites.
- 1803, Medical & Physical Journal, number 10, page 213:
  I cannot say that I have known it spread from fomites.
(archaic, figurative) Anything which similarly facilitates the spread of something similarly deleterious.
- 1658, John Owen, Of Temptation, page 126:
  Naturall tempers... prove a great Fomes of sinne.

References edit

“fomes”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
“fomes, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1897.

Anagrams edit

MEFOs

Latin edit

Etymology edit

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ-. Related to Latin foveō (“I keep warm”), compare Latin fōmentum (“compress, poultice; kindling; mitigation”).

Pronunciation edit

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfoː.mes/, [ˈfoːmɛs̠]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfo.mes/, [ˈfɔːmes]

Noun edit

fōmes f (genitive fōmitis); third declension

tinder, kindling
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.174–176:
  Ac prīmum silicī scintillam excūdit Achātēs,
  succēpitque ignem foliīs, atque ārida circum
  nūtrīmenta dedit, rapuitque in fōmite flammam.
  And Achates first struck a spark from flint, and caught the fire on leaves, and so he spread dry fuel around, and hastened a flame within the tinder.
(Medieval Latin) tinderbox
(New Latin, medicine) fomite

Declension edit

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	fōmes	fōmitēs
Genitive	fōmitis	fōmitum
Dative	fōmitī	fōmitibus
Accusative	fōmitem	fōmitēs
Ablative	fōmite	fōmitibus
Vocative	fōmes	fōmitēs

References edit

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

Middle English edit

Noun edit

fomes

plural of fome

Portuguese edit

Noun edit

fomes

plural of fome

Spanish edit

Adjective edit

fomes

plural of fome