carmen

See also: Carmen, and Cármen

English

Noun

carmen

1. plural of carman

Anagrams

• mancer, McNear, Camren, -mancer

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkar.men/, [ˈkärmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkar.men/, [ˈkärmen]

Etymology 1

According to Varro its earlier form was casmen, but it may be from Proto-Italic *kanmen, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂nmn̥, from *keh₂n- (“to sing”) (whence canō (“I sing, chant”)). Similar to germen for *genmen.

Alternative etymology connects casmen, *cansmen to Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to speak in a florid, solemn style, attest, witness”), relating it to Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hazjan, “to praise”), Old English herian (“to praise, extol, commend”). See Camēna, Casmēna. Compare Latin Casmenae.

Noun

carmen n (genitive carminis); third declension

2. (usually poetic) song, tune
3. a composition in verse, a poem; poetry, verse, song
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.833–834:

     mīlle dea est operum: certē dea carminis illa est;
     sī mereor, studiīs adsit amīca meīs

     She is the goddess of a thousand crafts: Certainly she is the goddess of song;
     if I am deserving, may she be present, as a friend to my endeavors.
     (Ovid concludes 26 lines honoring the festival of Minerva with his own prayer to the goddess; see also Athena.)

4. poem, poetry (strictly any poem or poetry that can be sung), verse (esp. lyric or epic verse)
5. incantation, charm, spell
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.487–488:

     “Haec sē carminibus prōmittit solvere mentēs
     quās velit, ast aliīs dūrās immittere cūrās, [...].”

     “[This enchantress] vows by her spells to loosen the hearts of those she wills, but to inflict harsh cares upon others, [...].”

6. play, playing (of music)

   Synonym: cantiō

   Carmina Burana ― Songs of Beuern

7. prayer (refers to prayers being composed in verse)
8. formula (refers to the formula of verse found in ancient prayers or magical spells)
9. (prosaic) oracle (infrequent but used to refer to the poetic form in which prophecies were spoken)
10. ritual (involving verse)

Usage notes

The difference between carmen and cantus when signifying "song" is that carmen is used more frequently in poetry, whereas cantus is used more frequently in prose.

Declension

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

	singular	plural
nominative	carmen	carmina
genitive	carminis	carminum
dative	carminī	carminibus
accusative	carmen	carmina
ablative	carmine	carminibus
vocative	carmen	carmina

Derived terms

• Carmentis/Carmenta
• carminō

Descendants

• English: charm (through Old French)
• French: charme
  • Basque: xarma
• Italian: carme
• Portuguese: carme
• Sicilian: carminu
• Spanish: carmen

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-mn̥, from *(s)kers- (“to scratch”) + *-mn̥. Cognate with Lithuanian kar̃šti (“to comb (wool or linen)”), Latvian kā̀rst (“to comb (wool or linen)”), Sanskrit कषति (káṣati, “to scrape, scratch”), Old High German skerran (“to scratch”). Equivalent to car(r)ō (“to card (wool)”) +‎ -men.

Noun

carmen n (genitive carminis); third declension

2. card for flax or wool

Declension

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

	singular	plural
nominative	carmen	carmina
genitive	carminis	carminum
dative	carminī	carminibus
accusative	carmen	carmina
ablative	carmine	carminibus
vocative	carmen	carmina

Derived terms

• carminō

References

• “carmen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “carmen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• carmen 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)
• carmen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • epic poetry: carmen epicum
    
  • to recite a poem, line with appropriate action: carmen, versum agere
    
  • to read a piece of verse with expression: carmen recitare
    
  • to recite a piece of verse (without gestures): carmen pronuntiare
    
  • a rough poem; an extempore effusion: carmen inconditum
    
  • a choric ode in a tragedy: carmen chori, canticum
    
  • to read prayers for the congregation to repeat: praeire verba (carmen) (Liv. 31. 17)
    
  • (ambiguous) to write poetry with facility: carmina , versus fundere (De Or. 3. 50)
    
• “carmen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• carmen in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Anagrams

• carnem

Spanish

A carmen in Granada

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic كَرْم (karm, “vineyard”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾmen/ [ˈkaɾ.mẽn]
• Rhymes: -aɾmen
• Syllabification: car‧men
• Homophone: Carmen

Noun

carmen m (plural cármenes)

1. a type of house in Granada

Further reading

• “carmen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28