"scelus" meaning in Latin

See scelus in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: [ˈskɛ.ɫʊs] [Classical-Latin], [ˈʃɛː.lus] (note: modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)
Etymology: From Proto-Italic *skelos, from Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”), from *(s)kel- (“to curve, bend”). This etymology presupposes a semantic shift from "crooked" to "wicked, bad". Cognate with Proto-Germanic *skelhaz (whence Dutch scheel, German scheel), Ancient Greek σκέλος (skélos), σκολιός (skoliós). Etymology templates: {{inh|la|itc-pro|*skelos}} Proto-Italic *skelos, {{der|la|ine-pro|*skelos||curve, bending}} Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”), {{cog|gem-pro|*skelhaz}} Proto-Germanic *skelhaz, {{cog|nl|scheel}} Dutch scheel, {{cog|de|scheel}} German scheel Head templates: {{la-noun|scelus/sceler<3>}} scelus n (genitive sceleris); third declension Inflection templates: {{la-ndecl|scelus/sceler<3>}} Forms: sceleris [genitive], no-table-tags [table-tags], scelus [nominative, singular], scelera [nominative, plural], sceleris [genitive, singular], scelerum [genitive, plural], scelerī [dative, singular], sceleribus [dative, plural], scelus [accusative, singular], scelera [accusative, plural], scelere [ablative, singular], sceleribus [ablative, plural], scelus [singular, vocative], scelera [plural, vocative]
  1. an evil deed; a wicked, heinous, or impious action Tags: declension-3, neuter Synonyms: dēlīctum, peccātum, facinus, flāgitium, iniūria, commissum, maleficium
    Sense id: en-scelus-la-noun-3AUGwHL~ Categories (other): Latin entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of Latin entries with incorrect language header: 38 21 41 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 58 20 22 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 76 12 13
  2. wickedness, villainy Tags: declension-3, neuter
    Sense id: en-scelus-la-noun-fCU7rOCe Categories (other): Latin entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Latin entries with incorrect language header: 38 21 41
  3. (transferred) criminal, villain, felon, scoundrel, rascal, rogue Tags: declension-3, neuter
    Sense id: en-scelus-la-noun-PgfhFB-7 Categories (other): Latin entries with incorrect language header, Latin neuter nouns in the third declension Disambiguation of Latin entries with incorrect language header: 38 21 41 Disambiguation of Latin neuter nouns in the third declension: 31 23 46
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: scelerātus (english: see there for further descendants), scelerō, scelestus, sceliō
Categories (other): Crime Disambiguation of Crime: 0 0 0

Inflected forms

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "_dis": "0 0 0",
      "kind": "other",
      "langcode": "la",
      "name": "Crime",
      "orig": "la:Crime",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w+disamb"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "english": "see there for further descendants",
      "translation": "see there for further descendants",
      "word": "scelerātus"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "scelerō"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "scelestus"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "sceliō"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "*skelos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *skelos",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*skelos",
        "4": "",
        "5": "curve, bending"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*skelhaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skelhaz",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "scheel"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch scheel",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "scheel"
      },
      "expansion": "German scheel",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Italic *skelos, from Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”), from *(s)kel- (“to curve, bend”). This etymology presupposes a semantic shift from \"crooked\" to \"wicked, bad\". Cognate with Proto-Germanic *skelhaz (whence Dutch scheel, German scheel), Ancient Greek σκέλος (skélos), σκολιός (skoliós).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sceleris",
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "la-ndecl",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleris",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelerum",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelerī",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleribus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelere",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleribus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "singular",
        "vocative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "vocative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "scelus/sceler<3>"
      },
      "expansion": "scelus n (genitive sceleris); third declension",
      "name": "la-noun"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "scelus/sceler<3>"
      },
      "name": "la-ndecl"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Latin",
  "lang_code": "la",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 21 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 20 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "76 12 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              18
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              25,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "english": "He who benefits from the crime, commits it.",
          "text": "Cui prōdest scelus, is fēcit",
          "translation": "He who benefits from the crime, commits it.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.229–231",
          "text": "“… et scelus expendisse merentem\nLāocoönta ferunt, sacrum quī cuspide rōbur\nlaeserit, et tergō scelerātam intorserit hastam.”\n“… and the evil deed merited punishment [for] Laocoön, they said, since he had violated the sacred wood [of the horse] with [his] spearhead [when he] hurled the profane weapon at [its] body.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "an evil deed; a wicked, heinous, or impious action"
      ],
      "id": "en-scelus-la-noun-3AUGwHL~",
      "links": [
        [
          "evil",
          "evil"
        ],
        [
          "deed",
          "deed"
        ],
        [
          "wicked",
          "wicked"
        ],
        [
          "heinous",
          "heinous"
        ],
        [
          "impious",
          "impious"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dēlīctum"
        },
        {
          "word": "peccātum"
        },
        {
          "word": "facinus"
        },
        {
          "word": "flāgitium"
        },
        {
          "word": "iniūria"
        },
        {
          "word": "commissum"
        },
        {
          "word": "maleficium"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 21 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.595–596",
          "text": "rēgia rēs scelus est. socerō cape rēgna necātō\net nostrās patriō sanguine tinge manūs.\n“Villainy is a deed worthy for kings. With [your] father-in-law having been killed, seize [his] kingdom, and stain [both] our hands with [my] father’s blood!”\n(Tullia Minor goads her husband, Lucius Tarquinius, to murder her father, King Servius Tullius. The ablative absolute “socerō necātō” could be translated as “when [you] have killed [your] father-in-law,” or perhaps understood as an imperative: “Kill [your] father-in-law.”)",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "wickedness, villainy"
      ],
      "id": "en-scelus-la-noun-fCU7rOCe",
      "links": [
        [
          "wickedness",
          "wickedness"
        ],
        [
          "villainy",
          "villainy"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "38 21 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 23 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Latin neuter nouns in the third declension",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "CHARINUS: What?! What’s that you say, villain?! Yet may the Gods grant you an end appropriate to your deeds!",
          "ref": "166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 665–666",
          "text": "CHARĪNUS: Hem?! Quid ais, scelus?! At tibi Dī dignum factīs exitium duint!",
          "translation": "CHARINUS: What?! What’s that you say, villain?! Yet may the Gods grant you an end appropriate to your deeds!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "criminal, villain, felon, scoundrel, rascal, rogue"
      ],
      "id": "en-scelus-la-noun-PgfhFB-7",
      "links": [
        [
          "criminal",
          "criminal"
        ],
        [
          "villain",
          "villain"
        ],
        [
          "felon",
          "felon"
        ],
        [
          "scoundrel",
          "scoundrel"
        ],
        [
          "rascal",
          "rascal"
        ],
        [
          "rogue",
          "rogue"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "transferred",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transferred) criminal, villain, felon, scoundrel, rascal, rogue"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈskɛ.ɫʊs]",
      "tags": [
        "Classical-Latin"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈʃɛː.lus]",
      "note": "modern Italianate Ecclesiastical"
    }
  ],
  "word": "scelus"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Latin 2-syllable words",
    "Latin entries with incorrect language header",
    "Latin lemmas",
    "Latin neuter nouns",
    "Latin neuter nouns in the third declension",
    "Latin nouns",
    "Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic",
    "Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic",
    "Latin terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Latin third declension nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "la:Crime"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "english": "see there for further descendants",
      "translation": "see there for further descendants",
      "word": "scelerātus"
    },
    {
      "word": "scelerō"
    },
    {
      "word": "scelestus"
    },
    {
      "word": "sceliō"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "itc-pro",
        "3": "*skelos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Italic *skelos",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*skelos",
        "4": "",
        "5": "curve, bending"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*skelhaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skelhaz",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "scheel"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch scheel",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "scheel"
      },
      "expansion": "German scheel",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Proto-Italic *skelos, from Proto-Indo-European *skelos (“curve, bending”), from *(s)kel- (“to curve, bend”). This etymology presupposes a semantic shift from \"crooked\" to \"wicked, bad\". Cognate with Proto-Germanic *skelhaz (whence Dutch scheel, German scheel), Ancient Greek σκέλος (skélos), σκολιός (skoliós).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sceleris",
      "tags": [
        "genitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "no-table-tags",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "table-tags"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "la-ndecl",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "inflection-template"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "nominative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleris",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelerum",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "genitive",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelerī",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleribus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "dative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "accusative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelere",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "singular"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sceleribus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "ablative",
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelus",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "singular",
        "vocative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "scelera",
      "source": "declension",
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "vocative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "scelus/sceler<3>"
      },
      "expansion": "scelus n (genitive sceleris); third declension",
      "name": "la-noun"
    }
  ],
  "inflection_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "scelus/sceler<3>"
      },
      "name": "la-ndecl"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Latin",
  "lang_code": "la",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Latin terms with quotations",
        "Latin terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              18
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              25,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "english": "He who benefits from the crime, commits it.",
          "text": "Cui prōdest scelus, is fēcit",
          "translation": "He who benefits from the crime, commits it.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 2.229–231",
          "text": "“… et scelus expendisse merentem\nLāocoönta ferunt, sacrum quī cuspide rōbur\nlaeserit, et tergō scelerātam intorserit hastam.”\n“… and the evil deed merited punishment [for] Laocoön, they said, since he had violated the sacred wood [of the horse] with [his] spearhead [when he] hurled the profane weapon at [its] body.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "an evil deed; a wicked, heinous, or impious action"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "evil",
          "evil"
        ],
        [
          "deed",
          "deed"
        ],
        [
          "wicked",
          "wicked"
        ],
        [
          "heinous",
          "heinous"
        ],
        [
          "impious",
          "impious"
        ],
        [
          "action",
          "action"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dēlīctum"
        },
        {
          "word": "peccātum"
        },
        {
          "word": "facinus"
        },
        {
          "word": "flāgitium"
        },
        {
          "word": "iniūria"
        },
        {
          "word": "commissum"
        },
        {
          "word": "maleficium"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Latin terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.595–596",
          "text": "rēgia rēs scelus est. socerō cape rēgna necātō\net nostrās patriō sanguine tinge manūs.\n“Villainy is a deed worthy for kings. With [your] father-in-law having been killed, seize [his] kingdom, and stain [both] our hands with [my] father’s blood!”\n(Tullia Minor goads her husband, Lucius Tarquinius, to murder her father, King Servius Tullius. The ablative absolute “socerō necātō” could be translated as “when [you] have killed [your] father-in-law,” or perhaps understood as an imperative: “Kill [your] father-in-law.”)",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "wickedness, villainy"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wickedness",
          "wickedness"
        ],
        [
          "villainy",
          "villainy"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Latin terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "english": "CHARINUS: What?! What’s that you say, villain?! Yet may the Gods grant you an end appropriate to your deeds!",
          "ref": "166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 665–666",
          "text": "CHARĪNUS: Hem?! Quid ais, scelus?! At tibi Dī dignum factīs exitium duint!",
          "translation": "CHARINUS: What?! What’s that you say, villain?! Yet may the Gods grant you an end appropriate to your deeds!",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "criminal, villain, felon, scoundrel, rascal, rogue"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "criminal",
          "criminal"
        ],
        [
          "villain",
          "villain"
        ],
        [
          "felon",
          "felon"
        ],
        [
          "scoundrel",
          "scoundrel"
        ],
        [
          "rascal",
          "rascal"
        ],
        [
          "rogue",
          "rogue"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "transferred",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transferred) criminal, villain, felon, scoundrel, rascal, rogue"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "declension-3",
        "neuter"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈskɛ.ɫʊs]",
      "tags": [
        "Classical-Latin"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈʃɛː.lus]",
      "note": "modern Italianate Ecclesiastical"
    }
  ],
  "word": "scelus"
}

Download raw JSONL data for scelus meaning in Latin (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Latin dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-19 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (d1270d2 and 9905b1f). 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.