meretricius

Latin

Etymology

From meretrīx (“female earner, prostitute”) +‎ -ius (“-ious: forming adjectives”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /me.reˈtriː.ki.us/, [mɛrɛˈt̪riːkiʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /me.reˈtri.t͡ʃi.us/, [mereˈt̪riːt͡ʃius]

Adjective

meretrīcius (feminine meretrīcia, neuter meretrīcium); first/second-declension adjective

1. meretricious: Of or related to prostitutes and prostitution.
   • 1719, William Musgrave, Antiquitates Britanno-Belgicae..., Vol. I, Cap. XII, § I:

     Prima Venerem repraesentat... In Caelum recepta rei Meretriciae praesedit...

     The first [statue] displays Venus... Received into Heaven, she presided over all things related to Whoring...

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	meretrīcius	meretrīcia	meretrīcium		meretrīciī	meretrīciae	meretrīcia
Genitive	meretrīciī	meretrīciae	meretrīciī		meretrīciōrum	meretrīciārum	meretrīciōrum
Dative	meretrīciō		meretrīciō		meretrīciīs
Accusative	meretrīcium	meretrīciam	meretrīcium		meretrīciōs	meretrīciās	meretrīcia
Ablative	meretrīciō	meretrīciā	meretrīciō		meretrīciīs
Vocative	meretrīcie	meretrīcia	meretrīcium		meretrīciī	meretrīciae	meretrīcia

Related terms

• merenda
• merendārius
• merendō
• merēns
• mereō
• meritō
• meritōrium
• meritōrius
• meretrīcābilis
• meretrīciē
• meretrīcor
• meretrīcula
• meretrīx
• meritum
• meritus

Descendants

• → Catalan: meretrici
• → English: meretricious
• → Italian: meretricio
• → Portuguese: meretrício
• → Spanish: meretricio

References

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