claudus

Latin

Alternative forms

• clūdus, clōdus

Etymology

From some extension of *kelh₂- (“to strike, cut”), leading to derivatives meaning "broken or cut off," see also Russian колдыка (koldyka, “lame”) and Ancient Greek κολοβός (kolobós, “curtailed, broken”); the root is also the ultimate source of English halt.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈklau̯.dus/, [ˈkɫ̪äu̯d̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈklau̯.dus/, [ˈkläːu̯d̪us]

Adjective

claudus (feminine clauda, neuter claudum); first/second-declension adjective

1. limping, halting, lame, crippled

   Synonym: dēbilis

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Matthew 11:5:

     Caeci vident, claudi ambulant […]

     The blind see, the lame walk […]

2. (figurative, rare, usually poetic) wavering, imperfect, defective
3. (figurative) halting, wavering, uncertain, untrustworthy

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	claudus	clauda	claudum		claudī	claudae	clauda
genitive	claudī	claudae	claudī		claudōrum	claudārum	claudōrum
dative	claudō	claudae	claudō		claudīs
accusative	claudum	claudam	claudum		claudōs	claudās	clauda
ablative	claudō	claudā	claudō		claudīs
vocative	claude	clauda	claudum		claudī	claudae	clauda

Derived terms

• claudaster
• claudeō
• claudicō
• claudīgō
• clauditās
• Claudius

 

References

• “claudus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “claudus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• claudus 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)
• claudus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.