catus

See also: Catus and cattus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tus/, [ˈkät̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.tus/, [ˈkäːt̪us]

Etymology 1

From the Proto-Italic *katos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₃tós (“sharpened”), from *ḱeh₃- (“to sharpen”). Cognate with Sanskrit शित (śitá-, “whetted, sharpened, slender”).

Adjective

catus (feminine cata, neuter catum); first/second-declension adjective

1. clever, intelligent, sagacious, clear-thinking
2. cunning, crafty, sly
3. (archaic) shrill, sharp, clear-sounding

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	catus	cata	catum		catī	catae	cata
genitive	catī	catae	catī		catōrum	catārum	catōrum
dative	catō	catae	catō		catīs
accusative	catum	catam	catum		catōs	catās	cata
ablative	catō	catā	catō		catīs
vocative	cate	cata	catum		catī	catae	cata

• comparative catior, superlative catissimus

Derived terms

• Catius
• Catō

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling of cattus, possibly under the influence by folk-etymology of the above sense.

Noun

catus m (genitive catī); second declension

1. Alternative form of cattus (“cat”)
   • 1531, Carolus Bovillus, Caroli Bovilli Samarobrini Prouerbiorum Vulgarium:

     Amici, vt canis & catus.

     Friends, like dog and cat.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	catus	catī
genitive	catī	catōrum
dative	catō	catīs
accusative	catum	catōs
ablative	catō	catīs
vocative	cate	catī

Derived terms

• Catus
• Felis catus
• Felis silvestris catus

References

• “catus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “catus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• catus 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)
• catus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) Cato of Utica was a direct descendant of Cato the Censor: Cato Uticensis ortus erat a Catone Censorio
    
• “catus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray