cervus

See also: Cervus

Latin

cervī (stags)

Alternative forms

• cervos

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) (whence English horn, hirn, Latin cornū (“horn”)) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus).

Cognate with Welsh carw (“deer”), Greek κεραός (keraós, “horned”). The first-syllable e was likely taken from the PIE root noun *ḱerh₂s (“horn”) (itself eventually lost in Latin), while the shift in meaning from 'horned' to 'deer' may be common Italo-Celtic.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈker.u̯us/, [ˈkɛru̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.vus/, [ˈt͡ʃɛrvus]

Noun

cervus m (genitive cervī); second declension

1. deer, stag
2. (by extension) forked stakes
3. (military) cheval de frise

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cervus	cervī
genitive	cervī	cervōrum
dative	cervō	cervīs
accusative	cervum	cervōs
ablative	cervō	cervīs
vocative	cerve	cervī

Derived terms

• cerva
• cervārius
• cervīna
• cervīnus
• cervula
• cervulus

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: tserbu
  • Megleno-Romanian: țerb
  • Romanian: cerb
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Ligurian: çervo
  • Lombard: cèrf
  • Venetan: cervo
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: cèrf
  • Old French: cerf
    • French: cerf
    • Picard: cherfe
  • Occitano-Romance:
    • Old Catalan: cervo
      • Catalan: cervo
    • Old Occitan:
      • Occitan: cèrvi
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
    • Friulian: cierf
    • Ladin: cerf
    • Romansch: tschierv
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: ciervu
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: cervo
    • Galician: cervo
    • Portuguese: cervo
  • Old Spanish:
    • Spanish: ciervo
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: cervu
  • Gallurese: celvu
  • Italian: cervo
  • Sassarese: zèivu
  • Sicilian: cervu
• Sardinian:
  • Campidanese: cerbu
  • Logudorese: chervu
  • Nuorese: chervu
• Borrowings:
  • → Dutch: cerviduct
  • → Esperanto: cervo

Further reading

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