pectus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pectus.

Noun

pectus (plural pectora)

1. (anatomy, zoology) The breast, especially of a bird.

Related terms

• pectoral
• pectus excavatum
• pectus carinatum

Anagrams

• cupset

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *pektos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peg- (“breast”). Cognate with Old Irish ucht.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpek.tus/, [ˈpɛk.t̪ʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpek.tus/, [ˈpɛk.t̪us]

Noun

pectus n (genitive pectoris); third declension

1. chest, breast
2. (figuratively) heart, breast, as the seat of emotion
3. (figuratively) soul, spirit, mind, understanding
4. person, individual (as a being of passion)

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pectus	pectora
Genitive	pectoris	pectorum
Dative	pectorī	pectoribus
Accusative	pectus	pectora
Ablative	pectore	pectoribus
Vocative	pectus	pectora

Derived terms

• appectorō
• expectorō
• in pectore
• pectorāle
• pectorālis
• pectorōsus
• pectusculum
• Pectuscum Palātī
• tripectorus

Descendants

• Aragonese: peito
• Aromanian: cheptu
• Asturian: pechu
• Catalan: pit
• French: pis, poitrine
• Friulian: pet
• Galician: peito

• Istriot: pitto
• Istro-Romanian: kľeptu
• Italian: petto
• Megleno-Romanian: kľeptu
• Occitan: pitre, pièch
• Piedmontese: pèt
• Portuguese: peito
• Romanian: piept

• Romansch: pet, pèz
• Sardinian: pettus, petorra, peturra, piturra
• Sicilian: pettu
• Spanish: pecho, peto
• Venetian: peto

From a Vulgar Latin *pectorīna:

• French: poitrine
• Spanish: pretina
• Italian: pettorina

See also

• pectō
• sinus

Further reading

• pectus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pectus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pectus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • the water is up to, is above, the chest: aqua pectus aequat, superat
    
  • to take a thing to heart: demittere aliquid in pectus or in pectus animumque suum
    
  • what he said made a deep impression on..: hoc verbum alte descendit in pectus alicuius
    
  • to love some one very dearly, with all one's heart: aliquem toto pectore, ut dicitur, amare (Leg. 18. 49)
    
  • to inspire with religious feeling, with the fear of God: imbuere (vid. sect. VII. 7, note imbuere...) pectora religione
    
  • to plunge one's sword in some one's breast: gladium alicui in pectus infigere
    
  • to transfix, pierce a man's breast with one's sword: gladio aliquem per pectus transfigere (Liv. 2. 46)
    
• pectus in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[3], pre-publication website, 2005-2016