proper noun · masculinesecond declension
Avernus
Avernus m sg (genitive Avernī)
Classical[aˈwɛr.nʊs]Ecclesiastical[aˈvɛr.nus]
Meaning
- masculinesingularAvernus (lake in Southern Italy)
- masculinesingularThe underworld
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Avernus | — |
| genitive | Avernī | — |
| dative | Avernō | — |
| accusative | Avernum | — |
| ablative | Avernō | — |
| vocative | Averne | — |
| locative | Avernī | — |
Ăvernus, a, um, adj., = ἄορνος.
I. Without birds:
loca, where no birds can live, on account of the pestiferous exhalations, Lucr. 6, 738 sq.; 6, 818: aestus, the vapor of Avernus, id. 6, 830.—But esp. Avernus lacus or absol. Avernus, Lake Avernus, near Cumœ, Puteoli, and Baiœ, almost entirely enclosed by steep and wooded hills (now Lago Averno), whose deadly exhalations killed the birds flying over it; therefore the myth placed near it the entrance to the lower world, Plin. 3, 5, 9, § 61; Cic. Tusc. 1, 16, 37; Lucr. 6, 746; Verg. A. 6, 201 al.; cf. Mann. Ital. I. p. 718 sq.; Heyne, Excurs. II. ad Verg. A. 6.—The renowned Cumæan Sibyl also dwelt in a grotto near it.—Poet., the lower world, the infernal regions, Ov. Am. 3, 9, 27; Luc. 6, 636; Mart. 7, 46 al.—Also = Acheron: pigri sulcator Averni, Stat. Th. 11, 588.—Personified as a deity, acc. to Serv. ad Verg. G. 2, 164.—Hence, II. Another adj.: ăvernus, a, um.
A. Belonging to Lake Avernus:
luci, Verg. A. 6, 118; 6, 564: valles, Ov. M. 10, 51: freta, Lake Avernus, Verg. G. 2, 164.—Also absol.: ăverna, ōrum, n. (sc. loca), Verg. A. 3, 442; 7, 91; Ov. M. 14, 105.—B. Of or belonging to the infernal regions:
stagna, Verg. G. 4, 493: tenebrae, Sil. 15, 76: Juno, i. e. Proserpina, Ov. M. 14, 114; Sil. 13, 601 (cf.: Juno inferna, Verg. A. 6, 138).Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Avernus adj.
, ἄορνος (prop., birdless, because its exhalations destroyed life). — Hence (with or without lacus): Avernus, a lake near Cumae, the fabled entrance to the lower world, C., V., L.—Of Lake Avernus: freta, portus, V.—Of the lower world, infernal: stagna, V.: Iuno, i. e. Proserpina, O.—Plur n., the region about Avernus, V., O.—The lower world, V.
Origins
Ancient Greek ἄορνος (áornos), ἄϝορνος (áwornos, “birdless”), from ἀ- (a-, “without”) + ὄρνις (órnis, “bird”). The lack of birds was likely due to fatal gases like carbon dioxide seeping from the volcanically active lake.
Descendants
- Catalanavern
- EnglishAvernus
- FrenchAverne
- Frenchaverne
- ItalianAverno
- Italianaverno
- Portugueseaverno
- Spanishaverno
- Galicianaverno