forceps

See also: fòrceps, fórceps, and Forceps

English

plastic forceps

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin forceps.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːsɛps/, /ˈfɔːsəps/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoɹsɛps/
• (without the horse–hoarse merger, rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔ(ː)ɹsɛps/

Noun

forceps (plural forceps or forcipes or forcepses)

1. An instrument used in surgery or medical procedures for grasping and holding objects, similar to tongs or pincers.

Usage notes

Although the Latin word is singular, this word is often treated as a plurale tantum by analogy with names for similar items such as tongs and tweezers: this forceps or these forceps (or even pair of forceps).

Synonyms

• pair of forceps

Hyponyms

• serrefine

Derived terms

• dressing forceps
• forceps delivery
• forceps-like
• microforceps

 

Translations

instrument used in surgery

• Bulgarian: щипци (bg) pl (štipci)
• Catalan: fòrceps m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鑷子／镊子 (zh) (nièzi), 鉗子／钳子 (zh) (qiánzi), 產鉗／产钳 (zh) (chǎnqián) (obstetric)

• Dutch: pincet (nl)
• Estonian: sünnitustangid
• Finnish: pihdit (fi) pl, atulat (fi) pl
• French: forceps (fr) m; (in dentistry) davier (fr) m
• German: Zange (de) f, Pinzette (de) f, (in delivery) Forzeps (de) m or f
• Greek: λαβίδα (el) f (lavída)

  Ancient: λαβίς (labís), πυράγρα f (purágra), σαρκολαβίς f (sarkolabís)

• Hindi: चिमटा (hi) m (cimṭā)
• Indonesian: forsep (id)
• Inuktitut: ᑭᒍᑕᐃᖅᓯᔾᔭᑎᑦ (kicotaiqsiyyatit)
• Italian: forcipe m
• Japanese: 鉗子 (ja) (かんし, kanshi)
• Kannada: ಚಿಮುಟಾಂಗ (kn) (cimuṭāṅga)
• Korean: 집게 (ko) (jipge)
• Latin: forceps f
• Macedonian: пинцета f (pinceta)
• Malay: forsep
• Malayalam: ചവണ (ml) (cavaṇa)
• Polish: kleszcze (pl) nvir, szczypce (pl) nvir
• Portuguese: fórceps (pt) m
• Russian: (хирурги́ческие) щипцы́ (ru) m pl (ščipcý), пинце́т (ru) m (pincét), зажи́м (ru) m (zažím)
• Spanish: fórceps m
• Tagalog: panipit
• Tamil: சாவணம் (ta) (cāvaṇam)
• Telugu: పటకారు (te) (paṭakāru)
• Turkish: pens (tr)
• Ukrainian: акушерські щипці (akušersʹki ščypci)

Further reading

• forceps on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin forceps.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.sɛps/

Noun

forceps m (plural forceps)

1. (medicine) forceps

Further reading

• “forceps”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *formokaps through syncope. By surface analysis, formus (“warm”) +‎ -ceps (“taker”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfor.keps/, [ˈfɔrkɛps̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈfor.t͡ʃeps/, [ˈfɔrt͡ʃeps]

Noun

forceps m (genitive forcipis); third declension

1. (pair of) tongs, pincers, forceps

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	forceps	forcipēs
Genitive	forcipis	forcipum
Dative	forcipī	forcipibus
Accusative	forcipem	forcipēs
Ablative	forcipe	forcipibus
Vocative	forceps	forcipēs

Derived terms

• forcipātus

Descendants

• Catalan: fòrceps
• → English: forceps (learned)
• → French: forceps (learned)
  • → Romanian: forceps
• → German: Forzeps (learned)
• Galician: fórceps
• Italian: forcipe
• Portuguese: fórceps, fórcipe
• Sicilian: fòrcipi
• Spanish: fórceps
• → Turkish: forseps (learned)

References

• “forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “forceps”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• forceps 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)
• forceps in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “forceps”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “forceps”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French forceps.

Noun

forceps n (plural forcepsuri)

1. forceps

Declension

Declension of forceps

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) forceps	forcepsul	(niște) forcepsuri	forcepsurile
genitive/dative	(unui) forceps	forcepsului	(unor) forcepsuri	forcepsurilor
vocative	forcepsule		forcepsurilor