plinthus

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”); possibly from earlier Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈplɪn.tʰʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈplin.tus]

Noun

plinthus m or f (genitive plinthī); second declension

1. (architecture) plinth
2. (surveying) a hundred-acre plot of land

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	plinthus	plinthī
genitive	plinthī	plinthōrum
dative	plinthō	plinthīs
accusative	plinthum	plinthōs
ablative	plinthō	plinthīs
vocative	plinthe	plinthī

Descendants

• Italian: plinto
• Middle French: plinte
  • French: plinthe
    • → Dutch: plint
    • → English: plinth
• Portuguese: plinto
• → Russian: пли́нтус (plíntus)
  • → Ukrainian: плі́нтус (plíntus)
• Spanish: plinto

References

• “plinthus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “plinthus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “plinthus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin