morsus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈmor.sus/, [ˈmɔrs̠ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmor.sus/, [ˈmɔrsus]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of mordeō (“I bite”).

Participle

morsus (feminine morsa, neuter morsum); first/second-declension participle

1. bitten, eaten, devoured, consumed, having been bitten
2. (figuratively) stung, pained, hurt, bitten, having been stung

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	morsus	morsa	morsum		morsī	morsae	morsa
Genitive	morsī	morsae	morsī		morsōrum	morsārum	morsōrum
Dative	morsō		morsō		morsīs
Accusative	morsum	morsam	morsum		morsōs	morsās	morsa
Ablative	morsō	morsā	morsō		morsīs
Vocative	morse	morsa	morsum		morsī	morsae	morsa

Etymology 2

mordeō (“I bite”) +‎ -sus (action noun).

Noun

morsus m (genitive morsūs); fourth declension

1. a bite, sting
   • 524 CE, Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 3.7m:

     voluptăs omnis […]
     apiumque pār volantum
     ubi grāta mella fūdit,
     fugit et nimis tenācī
     ferit icta corda morsū.

     every pleasure […] , like swarming bees, it pours out delightful honey and then flees, hitting our beaten hearts with a long-lasting sting.

2. (figuratively) pain, vexation, bite, sting
3. (by extension) sharpness of flavor, sharp taste, pungency
4. (by extension) jaw, tooth, fang, fluke (of an anchor)
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.168–169:

     [...] Hīc fessās nōn vincula nāvēs
     ūlla tenent, uncō nōn alligat ancora morsū.

     Here [there are] not any cables tying weary ships, nor anchor with barbed fluke holding fast.
     (An anchor “bites” the sand not unlike a tooth.)

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	morsus	morsūs
Genitive	morsūs	morsuum
Dative	morsuī	morsibus
Accusative	morsum	morsūs
Ablative	morsū	morsibus
Vocative	morsus	morsūs

Derived terms

• morsicō

Descendants

• Catalan: mos
• Middle French: mors
  • → English: morse
  • French: mors
• Italian: morso
• Spanish: mueso

References

• “morsus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “morsus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• morsus 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)
• morsus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the pain is very severe: acer morsus doloris est (Tusc. 2. 22. 53)