noun · neutersecond declension
aevum
aevum n (genitive aevī)
Classical[ˈae̯.wũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛː.vum]
№ 875 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- neutereternity, agelessness, timelessness (time as a single, unified, continuous and limitless entity; infinite time, time without end)
- neuterage, era, term, duration (an undefined, particularly long period of time)
- neutergeneration, lifetime, lifespan
- Medieval Latinneuteraevum, aeviternity (the mean between time and eternity)
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
tempus longum, aetās; per omne aevum = semper.aevum -ī n — in Mille Verba, Fūnus et Memoria
saecula sine fīneaevum -ī (n) — in Epistulae, ch. 22
aetās, tempus vītaeaevum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 16
tempus sine fīneaevum -ī (n) — in Aeneis, ch. 3
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | aevum aevus | aeva |
| genitive | aevī | aevōrum |
| dative | aevō | aevīs |
| accusative | aevum | aeva aevōs |
| ablative | aevō | aevīs |
| vocative | aevum aeve | aeva |
aevum (archaic aevom), i, n.; but m., Plaut. Poen. 5, 4, 14; Lucr. 2, 561; 3, 603 [αἰών; cf. αἰές or αἰέν, ἀεί, ἀίδιος; Goth. aivs = time, aiv = ever, aiveins = everlasting; Germ. ewig, Ewigkeit; Eng. aye, ever].
I. Lit.
A. In gen., uninterrupted, never-ending time, eternity; per aevom, Lucr. 1, 634; 1, 950 al.—Hence of the future:
in aevum, for all time, Hor. C. 4, 14, 3; so Plin. 35, 2, 2, and Vulg. Eccli. 41, 16: nos peribimus in aevum, ib. Bar. 3, 3.—B. Esp., in a more restricted sense of a definite time, period, lifetime, life, age: aevom agitare, Enn. ap. Gell. 12, 2, 3 (Ann. v. 308 Vahl.): in armis aevom agere, Pac. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 21, 49 (Trag. Rel. p. 110 Rib.); so, aevom degere, Lucr. 5, 1439:
consumere, id. 5, 1430: meum si quis te percontabitur aevum, my age or time of life, Hor. Ep. 1, 20, 26: aevum omne et breve et fragile est, Plin. Pan. 78, 2: flos aevi, the bloom of life (cf. aetas, I.), Ov. M. 9, 435: integer aevi, Verg. A. 9, 255: primum aevum, Val. Fl. 7, 338.—Also (like aetas, q. v. I.) for old age: aevo confectus, Verg. A. 11, 85: obsitus aevo, id. ib. 8, 307: annis aevoque soluti, Ov. M. 8, 712.—II. Transf.
A. Age or generation, Ov. P. 1, 3, 83:
ter aevo functus (of Nestor), Hor. C. 2, 9, 13: ingenia nostri aevi, Vell. 2, 36: in nostro aevo, Plin. 2, 25, 23, § 92: nostro aevo, id. 2, 13, 10, § 57: simulacrum tot aevis incorruptum, id. 14, 1, 2, § 9.—Hence, B. The men living in the same age (cf. aetas, II. C.):
de quibus consensus aevi judicaverit, Plin. 14, 6, 8, § 72.—C. In a wider sense, time, in gen.:
vitiata dentibus aevi omnia, Ov. M. 15, 235: quae per tantum aevi occulta, Tac. A. 16, 1.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
aevum or (older) aevom ī, n
, αἰών, neverending time, eternity: aeternum, O.: in aevum, for all time, H.—Esp., period of life, lifetime, life, age: in armis agere: in silvis exigere, V.: extentum, prolonged, H.: natura aevi brevis, S.: meum, my age, H.: aevo apta, things suitable to their years, H.: maximus aevo (i. e. natu), O.: flos aevi, the bloom of life, O.: aequale tecum aevum, V.: occulto arbor aevo, i. e. with no signs of age, H.—Old age: aevo confectus, V.: annis aevoque soluti, O. — Age, generation, period: Livi scriptoris, H.: venturi inscius aevi, the future, V.: in omne nobilis aevum, H.: durare in hoc aevi, to our own times, O. — The age, men of the age: veniens, posterity, H.—Time: aevi vetustas, V.: vitiata dentibus aevi omnia, O.
Origins
From earlier aevom, from Proto-Italic *aiwom (“period, age”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time, lifetime”).
Descendants
- Italianevo
- Portugueseevo
- Romanianev
- Spanishevo