"murcus" meaning in Latin

See murcus in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: [ˈmʊr.kʊs] [Classical-Latin], [ˈmur.kus] (note: modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)
Etymology: Uncertain. The term is perhaps connected with marceō (“to be soaked”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *merk-. However, according to the linguist Nicholas Zair, it is most likely that the Latin verb showcases a development of Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k- to Proto-Italic *mork-, which then unrounded to *ma-. If this is accepted, then—according to Zair—the form murcus cannot be directly derived from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o- or *mork-o-, and must instead have been borrowed from some other Indo-European substrate language where the unrounding never took place. De Vaan, however, suggests that a zero-grade Proto-Indo-European form *mr̥k- would have instead vocalized as Proto-Italic *mark-, whence marceō, whereas the o-grade would have regularly produced forms such as murcidus. Alternatively, the term may have emerged as back-formation from murcidus. The Hesychius hapax Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos), μυρικᾶς (murikâs, “mute, dumb”), transmitted as being used in Syracuse, is deemed by Oikonomos, Ernout/Meillet and Beekes borrowed from Latin. Etymology templates: {{unc|la}} Uncertain, {{der|la|ine-pro|*merk-}} Proto-Indo-European *merk-, {{der|la|ine-pro||*mr̥k-}} Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-, {{der|la|itc-pro||*mork-|nocat=1}} Proto-Italic *mork-, {{der|la|ine-pro||*mr̥k-o-}} Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o-, {{der|la|qfa-sub}} substrate, {{der|la|ine-pro|-}} Proto-Indo-European, {{der|la|itc-pro||*mark-|nocat=1}} Proto-Italic *mark-, {{back-formation|la|murcidus|nocap=1}} back-formation from murcidus, {{cog|grc|μύρκος}} Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos) Head templates: {{la-noun|murcus<2>}} murcus m (genitive murcī); second declension, {{tlb|la|very rare}} (very rare) Inflection templates: {{la-ndecl|murcus<2>}} Forms: murcī [genitive], no-table-tags [table-tags], murcus [nominative, singular], murcī [nominative, plural], murcī [genitive, singular], murcōrum [genitive, plural], murcō [dative, singular], murcīs [dative, plural], murcum [accusative, singular], murcōs [accusative, plural], murcō [ablative, singular], murcīs [ablative, plural], murce [singular, vocative], murcī [plural, vocative]
  1. shortened, mutilated Tags: declension-2, masculine, rare
    Sense id: en-murcus-la-noun-TFD9w~8r Categories (other): Latin back-formations, Latin entries with incorrect language header, Latin masculine nouns in the second declension, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Latin back-formations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Latin entries with incorrect language header: 52 48 Disambiguation of Latin masculine nouns in the second declension: 56 44 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 54 46
  2. (military) a coward, who, to escape military service, cuts off his thumb Tags: declension-2, masculine, rare
    Sense id: en-murcus-la-noun-Ct8V5oWG Categories (other): Military, Latin back-formations, Latin entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Latin back-formations: 52 48 Disambiguation of Latin entries with incorrect language header: 52 48 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 54 46 Topics: government, military, politics, war
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: murcidus (english: languid; uncertain) [also, rare], Murcus (english: uncertain) [name, personal] 
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "languid; uncertain",
      "tags": [
        "also",
        "rare"
      ],
      "translation": "languid; uncertain",
      "word": "murcidus"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "uncertain",
      "tags": [
        "name",
        "personal"
      ],
      "translation": "uncertain",
      "word": "Murcus"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*merk-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *merk-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mr̥k-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mork-",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *mork-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mr̥k-o-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mark-",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *mark-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "murcidus",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation from murcidus",
      "name": "back-formation"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "μύρκος"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. The term is perhaps connected with marceō (“to be soaked”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *merk-. However, according to the linguist Nicholas Zair, it is most likely that the Latin verb showcases a development of Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k- to Proto-Italic *mork-, which then unrounded to *ma-. If this is accepted, then—according to Zair—the form murcus cannot be directly derived from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o- or *mork-o-, and must instead have been borrowed from some other Indo-European substrate language where the unrounding never took place. De Vaan, however, suggests that a zero-grade Proto-Indo-European form *mr̥k- would have instead vocalized as Proto-Italic *mark-, whence marceō, whereas the o-grade would have regularly produced forms such as murcidus. Alternatively, the term may have emerged as back-formation from murcidus.\nThe Hesychius hapax Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos), μυρικᾶς (murikâs, “mute, dumb”), transmitted as being used in Syracuse, is deemed by Oikonomos, Ernout/Meillet and Beekes borrowed from Latin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "la-ndecl",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcōrum",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcōrum",
          "murcorum#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcō",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcō",
          "murco#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcīs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcīs",
          "murcis#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcum",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcōs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcōs",
          "murcos#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcō",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcō",
          "murco#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcīs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcīs",
          "murcis#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murce",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "singular",
        "vocative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "vocative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "murcus<2>"
      },
      "expansion": "murcus m (genitive murcī); second declension",
      "name": "la-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "very rare"
      },
      "expansion": "(very rare)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "murcus<2>"
      },
      "name": "la-ndecl"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Latin",
  "lang_code": "la",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin back-formations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "56 44",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin masculine nouns in the second declension",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "8–9th C. CE, Glossarium Amplonianum primum in Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum (volume V), Georg Goetz, Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Leipzig 1888, page 371, line 19",
          "text": "murcus curtus"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "shortened, mutilated"
      ],
      "id": "en-murcus-la-noun-TFD9w~8r",
      "links": [
        [
          "shortened",
          "shortened"
        ],
        [
          "mutilated",
          "mutilated"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-2",
        "masculine",
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "la",
          "name": "Military",
          "orig": "la:Military",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin back-formations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "52 48",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "54 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "380 CE – 392 CE, Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 15.12.3",
          "roman": "Neither are there among them any who, fearing military duty, cuts off, as in Italy, his thumb, which they regionally call murcī.",
          "text": "Nec eōrum aliquandō quisquam ut in Italiā mūnus Mārtium pertimēscēns pollicem sibi praecidit, quōs locāliter murcōs appellant.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "a coward, who, to escape military service, cuts off his thumb"
      ],
      "id": "en-murcus-la-noun-Ct8V5oWG",
      "links": [
        [
          "military",
          "military"
        ],
        [
          "coward",
          "coward"
        ],
        [
          "thumb",
          "thumb"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(military) a coward, who, to escape military service, cuts off his thumb"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-2",
        "masculine",
        "rare"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "war"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmʊr.kʊs]",
      "tags": [
        "Classical-Latin"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmur.kus]",
      "note": "modern Italianate Ecclesiastical"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Hesychius of Alexandria",
    "Syracuse, Sicily",
    "de:Konstantinos Oikonomos"
  ],
  "word": "murcus"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Latin 2-syllable words",
    "Latin back-formations",
    "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
    "Latin lemmas",
    "Latin masculine nouns",
    "Latin masculine nouns in the second declension",
    "Latin nouns",
    "Latin rare terms",
    "Latin second declension nouns",
    "Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Latin terms derived from substrate languages",
    "Latin terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Latin terms with unknown etymologies",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "english": "languid; uncertain",
      "tags": [
        "also",
        "rare"
      ],
      "translation": "languid; uncertain",
      "word": "murcidus"
    },
    {
      "english": "uncertain",
      "tags": [
        "name",
        "personal"
      ],
      "translation": "uncertain",
      "word": "Murcus"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "unc"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*merk-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *merk-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mr̥k-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mork-",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *mork-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mr̥k-o-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "qfa-sub"
      },
      "expansion": "substrate",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "",
        "4": "*mark-",
        "nocat": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *mark-",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "murcidus",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation from murcidus",
      "name": "back-formation"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "μύρκος"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain. The term is perhaps connected with marceō (“to be soaked”), itself from Proto-Indo-European *merk-. However, according to the linguist Nicholas Zair, it is most likely that the Latin verb showcases a development of Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k- to Proto-Italic *mork-, which then unrounded to *ma-. If this is accepted, then—according to Zair—the form murcus cannot be directly derived from Proto-Indo-European *mr̥k-o- or *mork-o-, and must instead have been borrowed from some other Indo-European substrate language where the unrounding never took place. De Vaan, however, suggests that a zero-grade Proto-Indo-European form *mr̥k- would have instead vocalized as Proto-Italic *mark-, whence marceō, whereas the o-grade would have regularly produced forms such as murcidus. Alternatively, the term may have emerged as back-formation from murcidus.\nThe Hesychius hapax Ancient Greek μύρκος (múrkos), μυρικᾶς (murikâs, “mute, dumb”), transmitted as being used in Syracuse, is deemed by Oikonomos, Ernout/Meillet and Beekes borrowed from Latin.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "la-ndecl",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcōrum",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcōrum",
          "murcorum#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcō",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcō",
          "murco#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcīs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcīs",
          "murcis#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcum",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcōs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcōs",
          "murcos#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcō",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcō",
          "murco#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcīs",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcīs",
          "murcis#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murce",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "singular",
        "vocative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "murcī",
      "links": [
        [
          "murcī",
          "murci#Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "vocative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "murcus<2>"
      },
      "expansion": "murcus m (genitive murcī); second declension",
      "name": "la-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "very rare"
      },
      "expansion": "(very rare)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "murcus<2>"
      },
      "name": "la-ndecl"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Latin",
  "lang_code": "la",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "8–9th C. CE, Glossarium Amplonianum primum in Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum (volume V), Georg Goetz, Bibliotheca Teubneriana, Leipzig 1888, page 371, line 19",
          "text": "murcus curtus"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "shortened, mutilated"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "shortened",
          "shortened"
        ],
        [
          "mutilated",
          "mutilated"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-2",
        "masculine",
        "rare"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Latin terms with quotations",
        "la:Military"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "380 CE – 392 CE, Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 15.12.3",
          "roman": "Neither are there among them any who, fearing military duty, cuts off, as in Italy, his thumb, which they regionally call murcī.",
          "text": "Nec eōrum aliquandō quisquam ut in Italiā mūnus Mārtium pertimēscēns pollicem sibi praecidit, quōs locāliter murcōs appellant.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "a coward, who, to escape military service, cuts off his thumb"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "military",
          "military"
        ],
        [
          "coward",
          "coward"
        ],
        [
          "thumb",
          "thumb"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(military) a coward, who, to escape military service, cuts off his thumb"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-2",
        "masculine",
        "rare"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "war"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmʊr.kʊs]",
      "tags": [
        "Classical-Latin"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈmur.kus]",
      "note": "modern Italianate Ecclesiastical"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Hesychius of Alexandria",
    "Syracuse, Sicily",
    "de:Konstantinos Oikonomos"
  ],
  "word": "murcus"
}

Download raw JSONL data for murcus meaning in Latin (6.1kB)

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Latin dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-05-31 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-05-01 using wiktextract (702fa29 and 7f4db16). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.