ensifer

See also: Ensifer

English

Wikispecies

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ēnsifer (“sword-bearing”).

Noun

ensifer (uncountable)

1. (microbiology) A member of the genus Ensifer, of the bacteria family Rhizobiaceae.

Anagrams

• Feiners, enfires, ferines, refines, sin-free, fineers

Latin

Alternative forms

• ēnsiger

Etymology

From ēnsis (“sword”) +‎ -fer (“-carrying”). Compare Ancient Greek ξιφήρης (xiphḗrēs).

Orion depicted as an ensifer (sword-bearer), Uranometria, 1603

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈen.si.fer/, [ˈẽːs̠ɪfɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈen.si.fer/, [ˈɛnsifer]

Adjective

ēnsifer (feminine ēnsifera, neuter ēnsiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. with a sword, wearing a sword, sword-bearing (especially as an epithet of Orion)
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.388:

     ēnsifer Ōrīōn aequore mersus erit

     sword-bearing Orion will be plunged into the sea
     (The apparent setting of Orion (constellation) beneath an ocean horizon.)

   • 1835. M. Annaeus Lucanus, Pharsalia (ed. Carolus Hermannus Weise) book 1, line 663 (3.61):

     Ēnsiferī nimium fulget lātus Orionis?

     Does the sword-bearing side of Orion gleam too much?

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ēnsifer	ēnsifera	ēnsiferum		ēnsiferī	ēnsiferae	ēnsifera
Genitive	ēnsiferī	ēnsiferae	ēnsiferī		ēnsiferōrum	ēnsiferārum	ēnsiferōrum
Dative	ēnsiferō		ēnsiferō		ēnsiferīs
Accusative	ēnsiferum	ēnsiferam	ēnsiferum		ēnsiferōs	ēnsiferās	ēnsifera
Ablative	ēnsiferō	ēnsiferā	ēnsiferō		ēnsiferīs
Vocative	ēnsifer	ēnsifera	ēnsiferum		ēnsiferī	ēnsiferae	ēnsifera

Noun

ēnsifer m (genitive ēnsiferī); second declension

1. sword-bearer

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ēnsifer	ēnsiferī
Genitive	ēnsiferī	ēnsiferōrum
Dative	ēnsiferō	ēnsiferīs
Accusative	ēnsiferum	ēnsiferōs
Ablative	ēnsiferō	ēnsiferīs
Vocative	ēnsifer	ēnsiferī

References

• “ensĭfer”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ENSIFERI 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)
• (-ger) ensĭfĕr (-ger) in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 590/3.
• M. Annaeus Lucanus (1835) Pharsalia (poem).[1]
• “ensifer” on page 609/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “ensifer”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 375/1
• Glossary of Latin Words, Bible History Online. (File retrieved 10-19-07)[2]