unicus
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From ūnus (“one”) + -icus (“-ic”). Compare Proto-Germanic *ainagaz and its descendants.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈuː.ni.kus/, [ˈuːnɪkʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈu.ni.kus/, [ˈuːnikus]
Adjective
[edit]ūnicus (feminine ūnica, neuter ūnicum, adverb ūnicē); first/second-declension adjective
- only, sole, single
- 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 5.251–252:
- ‘quod petis, Oleniīs’ inquam ‘mihi missus ab arvīs
flōs dabit: est hortīs ūnicus ille meīs.’- “What you seek,” I say, “a flower sent to me from the Olenian fields will provide: the only one [of its kind] is in my gardens.”
(A touch of the flower described by Flora (mythology) causes conception.)
- “What you seek,” I say, “a flower sent to me from the Olenian fields will provide: the only one [of its kind] is in my gardens.”
- ‘quod petis, Oleniīs’ inquam ‘mihi missus ab arvīs
- unique
- uncommon
Declension
[edit]First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | ūnicus | ūnica | ūnicum | ūnicī | ūnicae | ūnica | |
| genitive | ūnicī | ūnicae | ūnicī | ūnicōrum | ūnicārum | ūnicōrum | |
| dative | ūnicō | ūnicae | ūnicō | ūnicīs | |||
| accusative | ūnicum | ūnicam | ūnicum | ūnicōs | ūnicās | ūnica | |
| ablative | ūnicō | ūnicā | ūnicō | ūnicīs | |||
| vocative | ūnice | ūnica | ūnicum | ūnicī | ūnicae | ūnica | |
Descendants
[edit]- → Catalan: únic
- → French: unique
- → Italian: unico
- → Portuguese: único
- → Sicilian: ùnicu
- → Spanish: único
References
[edit]- “unicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “unicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- unicus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.