LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

adytum

adytum n (genitive adytī)
Classical[ˈa.dy.tũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.di.tum]

Meaning

  1. literallyneuterinner shrine, sanctuary, Holy of Holies: (the innermost or most secret part of a temple or other sacred place; the sanctuary, which none but priests could enter, and from which oracles were delivered)
    “Sīc ait et manibus vittās Vestamque potentem[Aeneas recalls his dream the night Troy fell:] “So [Hector] speaks, and [then] from the innermost shrines he brings out in his hands the chaplets and everlasting fire [of] mighty Vesta.”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.296–297
  2. broadlyneutera secret place or chamber
  3. neutera grave, tomb, or mausoleum
    ab imīs adytīsfrom the innermost chambers [of a tomb]
  4. figurativelyneuterthe inmost recesses
    ex adytō tamquam cordis respōnsa dēdereto yield answers as if from the inmost recesses of the soul

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeadytumadyta
genitiveadytīadytōrum
adytuum
dativeadytō
adytuī		adytīs
adytibus
accusativeadytumadyta
ablativeadytō
adytū		adytīs
adytibus
vocativeadytumadyta

ădўtum, i, n., = ἄδυτον (not to be entered),
I. the innermost part of a temple, the sanctuary, which none but priests could enter, and from which oracles were delivered.
I. Lit.: in occultis ac remotis templi, quae Graeci ἄδυτα appellant, Caes. B. C. 3, 105: aeternumque adytis effert penetralibus ignem, Verg. A. 2, 297: isque adytis haec tristia dicta reportat, id. ib. 2, 115; 6, 98; Hor. C. 1, 16, 5.—In gen., a secret place, chamber; of the dead, a grave, tomb, in Verg. A. 5, 84, and Juv. 13, 205: descriptionem cubiculorum in adytis, chambers in secret places, i. e. inner chambers, Vulg. 1 Par. 28, 11.—
II. Fig.: ex adyto tamquam cordis responsa dedere, the inmost recesses, * Lucr. 1, 737.!*? In Attius also masc. adўtus, ūs: adytus augura, in Non. 488, 4 (Trag. Rel. p. 217 Rib.).

Origins

From the Ancient Greek ἄδῠτον (ádŭton, “innermost sanctuary”, “shrine”), a substantivisation of the neuter forms of the adjective ἄδῠτος (ádŭtos, “not to be entered”).

Descendants
  • Englishadytum
  • Frenchadyte
  • Italianadito
  • Portugueseádito

In English words that came into English from adytum

  • adytumadytum

Quick answers

What does adytum mean in Latin?
adytum, a noun, means “inner shrine, sanctuary, Holy of Holies: (the innermost or most secret part of a temple or other sacred place; the sanctuary, which none but priests could enter, and from which oracles were delivered); a secret place or ”.
What is the genitive of adytum?
The genitive singular is adytī. adytum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce adytum?
In classical Latin, [ˈa.dy.tũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈaː.di.tum].