formaceus

Latin

Alternative forms

• formacius

Etymology

From fōrma (“shape, mould”) +‎ -āceus (“relational adjective suffix”). Said to be current in Africa and Spain, and is continued in Spanish. Isidore cites the substantivised fōrmācium, with fōrmātum as a synonym. Compare Spanish horma (“dry stone wall”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /foːrˈmaː.ke.us/, [foːrˈmäːkeʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /forˈma.t͡ʃe.us/, [forˈmäːt͡ʃeus]

Adjective

fōrmāceus (feminine fōrmācea, neuter fōrmāceum); first/second-declension adjective

1. (hapax) made using a form or mould, moulded
   • Pliny, Natural History 35.169.2:

     […] nōn in Āfricā Hispāniāque ē terrā parietēs, quōs appellant fōrmāceōs, quoniam in fōrmā circumdatīs duābus utrimque tabulīs inferciuntur vērius quam īnstruuntur, aevīs dūrant […] ?

     […] don't they last for ages, the earthen walls in Africa and Spain that they call moulded because they're stuffed in a mould, with two boards on either side, rather than constructed […] ?

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	fōrmāceus	fōrmācea	fōrmāceum		fōrmāceī	fōrmāceae	fōrmācea
Genitive	fōrmāceī	fōrmāceae	fōrmāceī		fōrmāceōrum	fōrmāceārum	fōrmāceōrum
Dative	fōrmāceō		fōrmāceō		fōrmāceīs
Accusative	fōrmāceum	fōrmāceam	fōrmāceum		fōrmāceōs	fōrmāceās	fōrmācea
Ablative	fōrmāceō	fōrmāceā	fōrmāceō		fōrmāceīs
Vocative	fōrmācee	fōrmācea	fōrmāceum		fōrmāceī	fōrmāceae	fōrmācea

Related terms

• fōrmābilis
• fōrmālis
• fōrmāticus
• fōrmātus
• fōrmella
• fōrmula

 

Descendants

• Spanish: hormazo, hormaza

References

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