praesaepe

Latin

Alternative forms

• praesēpe
• praesaepēs / praesēpēs
• praesaepis / praesēpis
• praesaepia / praesēpia
• praesaepium / praesēpium

Etymology

From praesaepiō (“barricade, fence in”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /prae̯ˈsae̯.pe/, [präe̯ˈs̠äe̯pɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /preˈse.pe/, [preˈs̬ɛːpe]

Noun

praesaepe n (genitive praesaepis); third declension

1. enclosure, pen, fold
2. (by extension) hut, dwelling
3. a crib
   • 348 CE – c. 413 CE, Prudentius, Dittochaeon 111-112:

     Inveniunt tectum pannīs, praesaepe jacentī
     Cūna erat, […]

     They [the shepherds] find Him [baby Jesus] wrapped in rags; the crib was a cradle to Him as He lay in it, […]

4. (astronomy) space between the two stars called Aselli in the constellation of Cancer.

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, “pure” i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	praesaepe	praesaepia
Genitive	praesaepis	praesaepium
Dative	praesaepī	praesaepibus
Accusative	praesaepe	praesaepia
Ablative	praesaepī	praesaepibus
Vocative	praesaepe	praesaepia

Descendants

• Galician: presebe
• Italian: presepe
• Portuguese: pesebre, presepe
• Sicilian: prisepi
• Spanish: pesebre

References

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