cuprum

Latin

Chemical element
Cu
Previous: niccolum (Ni)
Next: zincum (Zn)

Alternative forms

cyprum

Etymology

From cyprium (“copper”), elliptical for aes Cyprium, Cyprium aes (literally “Cypriote copper”), after the large reserves of the metal found on the island of Cyprus.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈku.prum/, [ˈkʊprʊ̃ˑ]

(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈku.prum/, [ˈkuːprum]

Noun

cuprum n (genitive cuprī); second declension

(Late Latin) copper (the metal)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cuprum	cupra
Genitive	cuprī	cuprōrum
Dative	cuprō	cuprīs
Accusative	cuprum	cupra
Ablative	cuprō	cuprīs
Vocative	cuprum	cupra

Synonyms

aerāmen

Descendants

Vulgar Latin: *cūbru, *cūbrum
- Old French: cuivre, quivre, queivre, coivre
  - Bourguignon: cueuvre, cuvre
  - French: cuivre
  - → Breton: kouevr
- Old Occitan:
  - Catalan: coure
  - Occitan: coire
- West Iberian
  - Asturian: cobre
  - Old Galician-Portuguese:
    - Galician: cobre
    - Portuguese: cobre
  - Spanish: cobre
    - → Basque: kobre

Borrowings

→ Proto-West Germanic: *kop(p)r (see there for further descendants)
→ Malay: kuprum
→ Romanian: cupru
→ English: copper
→ English: cupric
- → Italian: cuprico

References

“cuprum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
cuprum 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)
cuprum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.