LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

caecus

caecus (feminine caeca, neuter caecum)
Classical[ˈkae̯.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈt͡ʃɛː.kus]
№ 728 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectiveliterallyblind (not seeing)
  2. adjectivefigurativelyblind, blinded (mentally or morally)
  3. adjectivefigurativelyblind, at random, vague, indiscriminate, aimless, meaningless, acting blindly
    [...] caecīque in nūbibus ignēs / terrificant animōs et inānia murmura miscent?“And [why do] aimless fires in the clouds terrify [our] spirits, and [their] meaningless murmurs unsettle [us]?” (King Iarbas dares to question whether lightning and thunder truly signify Jupiter’s disapproval of human affairs.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.209–210
  4. adjectivewithout buds or eyes
  5. adjectiveliterallyinvisible (that cannot be seen)
  6. adjectivefigurativelyinvisible, concealed, hidden, secret, obscure, dark (that cannot be known)
  7. adjectiveliterallyopaque (that obstructs sight; not transparent)
  8. adjectivefigurativelydark, gloomy, thick, dense, obscure; uncertain, doubtful (that obstructs perception)

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī vidēre nōn potest; oculī eius nihil vident.
caecus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Corpus Hūmānum

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativecaecuscaecacaecum
genitivecaecīcaecaecaecī
dativecaecōcaecaecaecō
accusativecaecumcaecamcaecum
ablativecaecōcaecācaecō
vocativecaececaecacaecum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativecaecīcaecaecaeca
genitivecaecōrumcaecārumcaecōrum
dativecaecīscaecīscaecīs
accusativecaecōscaecāscaeca
ablativecaecīscaecīscaecīs
vocativecaecīcaecaecaeca

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

caeco impetu ferri
to have no principles.
fortuna caecos homines efficit, animos occaecat
Fortune makes men shortsighted, infatuates them.

caecus (not coecus; sometimes in MSS. cēcus), a, um, adj. akin to σκιά, σκότος; Sanscr. khāyā, shadow,
I. having no light, devoid of light.
I. Act., not seeing, blind.
A. Lit.: Appius, qui caecus annos multos fuit, Cic. Tusc. 5, 38, 112: traditum est enim Homerum caecum fuisse, id. ib. 5, 39, 114; Lucr. 5, 839: catuli, qui jam dispecturi sunt, caeci aeque et hi qui modo nati, Cic. Fin. 4, 23, 64: si facie miserabili senis, caeci, infantis, Quint. 4, 1, 42: caecum corpus, the blind part of the body, the back, Sall. J. 107, 1: perdices caecae impetu, Plin. 10, 33, 51, § 102: gigni, Vell. 1, 5, 2.—
2. Prov.: ut si Caecus iter monstrare velit, Hor. Ep. 1, 17, 4: apparet id quidem etiam caeco, even a blind man can see that, Liv. 32, 34, 3: caecis hoc, ut aiunt, satis clarum est, Quint. 12, 7, 9.—
B. Trop., mentally or morally blind, blinded (freq. in prose and poetry): o pectora caeca! Lucr. 2, 14: non solum ipsa Fortuna caeca est, sed eos etiam plerumque efficit caecos, quos complexa est, Cic. Lael. 15, 54; cf. casus, id. Div. 2, 6, 15: caecus atque amens tribunus, id. Sest. 7, 17: caecum me et praecipitem ferri, id. Planc. 3, 6: mater caeca crudelitate et scelere, id. Clu. 70, 199: cupidine, Sall. J. 25, 7: amentiā, Cic. Har. Resp. 23, 48: quem mala stultitia Caecum agit, Hor. S. 2, 3, 44: amatorem amicae Turpia decipiunt caecum vitia, id. ib. 1, 3, 39: mens, Tac. Agr. 43.—With ad: caecus ad has belli artes, Liv. 21, 54, 3.—With gen.: caecus animi, Quint. 1, 10, 29; Gell. 12, 13, 4: fati futuri, ignorant of, Luc. 2, 14; cf. Claud. Rapt. Pros. 1, 138.—Subst.: Caeci, ōrum, m., the blind people, i.e. the people of Chalcedon, according to the oracle at Delphi. Tac. A. 12, 63; cf. Plin. 5, 32, 43, § 149. —
2. Meton. of the passions themselves: caeca honorum cupido, Lucr. 3, 59; Ov. M. 3, 620: ac temeraria dominatrix animi cupiditas, Cic. Inv. 1, 2, 2; id. Pis. 24, 57: exspectatio, id. Agr. 2, 25, 66: amor, Ov. F. 2, 762: amor sui, Hor. C. 1, 18, 14: festinatio, Liv. 22, 39, 22: furor, Hor. Epod. 7, 13: caeca et sopita socordia, Quint. 1, 2, 5: ambitio, Sen. Ben. 7, 26, 4.—
3. Pregn., blind, i.e. at random, vague, indiscriminate, aimless: in hac calumniā timoris et caecae suspitionis tormento, Cic. Fam. 6, 7, 4: caeco quodam timore... quaerebant aliquem ducem, id. Lig. 1, 3: caecique in nubibus ignes Terrificant animos, Verg. A. 4, 209: caeca regens filo vestigia, id. ib. 6, 30: ne sint caecae, pater, exsecrationes tuae, Liv. 40, 10, 1: et caeco flentque paventque metu, Ov. F. 2, 822: lymphatis caeco pavore animis, Tac. H. 1, 82: cervus... Caeco timore proximam villam petit, Phaedr. 2, 8, 3: timor, Ov. Am. 1, 4, 42.—
C. Transf.
1. Of plants, without buds or eyes: rami, Plin. 16, 30, 54, § 125; cf. caeco and oculus. —
2. Of the large intestine: intestinum, the cœcum, Cels. 4, 1, 28; 4, 14, 1.—
II. Pass., that cannot be seen, or trop., that cannot be known, invisible, concealed, hidden, secret, obscure, dark.
A. Lit.: sunt igitur venti nimirum corpora caeca, winds are accordingly bodies, although invisible, Lucr. 1, 278; 1, 296; 1, 329; 2, 713: vallum caecum, Caes. B. C. 1, 28; cf.: caecum vallum dicitur, in quo praeacuti pali terrae affixi herbis vel frondibus occuluntur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 44 Müll.; so, fossae, covered, Col. 2, 2, 9; Pall. Mai, 3. 1: in vada caeca ferre, Verg. A. 1, 536: fores, private, id. ib. 2, 453: spiramenta, id. G. 1, 89: colubri, Col. 10, 231: ignis, Lucr. 4, 929: venenum, id. 6, 822: tabes, Ov. M. 9, 174: viae, blind ways, Tib. 2, 1, 78: insidiae armaque, Ov. F 2, 214; cf. Sil. 5, 3: saxa, Verg. A. 3, 706; 5, 164: vulnus, a secret wound, Lucr. 4, 1116; but also, a wound upon the back, Verg. A. 10, 733; cf. in the same sense, ictus, Liv. 34, 14, 11; Sil. 9, 105 (cf.: caecum corpus, the back, I. A. supra): caeca manus, i.e. abscondita, Ov. M. 12, 492: caecum domūs scelus, Verg. A. 1, 356.—
B. Trop.: caecas exponere causas, Lucr. 3, 317: improba navigii ratio, tum caeca jacebat, lay still concealed, id. 5, 1004; so, venti potestas, id. 3, 248; 3, 270: fluctus, Sisenn. ap. Non. p. 449, 10: caeca et clandestina natura, Lucr. 1, 779: res caecae et ab aspectūs judicio remotae, Cic. de Or. 2, 87, 357: obscurum atque caecum, id. Agr. 2, 14, 36: fata, Hor. C. 2, 13, 16: sors, id. S. 2, 3, 269: tumultus, secret conspiracies, Verg. G. 1, 464: amor, id. ib. 3, 210; cf.: stimulos in pectore caecos Condidit, Ov. M. 1, 726. In Plaut. once, prob. taken from the vulgar lang.: caecā die emere, upon a concealed (pay-) day, i.e. to purchase on credit (opp. oculata dies, i.e. for ready money): Ca. Pereo inopiā argentariā. Ba. Emito die caecā hercle olivom, id vendito oculatā die, Plaut. Ps. 1, 3, 67.—
2. By poet. license, transf. to the hearing: murmur, Verg. A. 12, 591 (as we, by a similar meton., say a hollow sound; cf. on the other hand, in Gr. τυφλὸς τὰ ὦτα); so, clamor, Val. Fl. 2, 461: mugitusterrae, Sen. Troad. 171.—
III. Neutr., that obstructs the sight, or trop., the perception; dark, gloomy, thick, dense, obscure.
A. Lit.: nox, Cic. Mil. 19, 50; Lucr. 1, 1108; Cat. 68, 44; Ov. M. 10, 476; 11, 521: caligo, Lucr. 3, 305; 4, 457; Cat. 64, 908; Verg. A. 3, 203; 8, 253: tenebrae, Lucr. 2, 54; 2, 746; 2, 798; 3, 87; 6, 35; 3, 87: silentia, i.e. nox, Sil. 7, 350: latebrae, Lucr. 1, 409: iter, Ov. M. 10, 456: loca, Prop. 1, 19, 8: cavernae, Ov. M. 15, 299; Sil. 7, 372: latus, Verg. A. 2, 19: cubiculum si fenestram non habet, dicitur caecum, Varr. L. L. 9, § 58 Müll.; so, domus, without windows, Cic. Or. 67, 224: parietes, Verg. A. 5, 589: pulvis, id. ib. 12, 444: carcer, id. ib. 6, 734: sardonyches, not transparent, opaque, Plin. 37, 6, 23, § 86: smaragdi, id. 37, 5, 18, § 68: acervus (of chaos), chaotic, confused, Ov M. 1, 24; Col. 4, 32, 4' chaos, Sen. Med. 741, Sil. 11, 456.—
B. Trop., uncertain, doubtful: obscurā spe et caecā exspectatione pendere, i.e. of an uncertain consequence or result, Cic. Agr. 2, 25, 66: quod temere fit caeco casu, id. Div. 2, 6, 15. cursus (Fortunae), Luc. 2, 567: eventus, Verg. A. 6, 157: caeci morbi, quorum causas ne medici quidem perspicere queunt, Col. 1, 5, 6; so, dolores, Plin. 29, 2, 10, § 38; 29, 3, 13, § 55: crimen, that cannot be proved, Liv. 45, 31, 11.— Subst.: caecum, i, n., uncertainty, obscurity (poet.): verum in caeco esse, Manil. 4, 304.—* Comp., Hor. S. 1, 2, 91.—Sup. and adv. not in. use.
Caecus, i, m.; agnomen of Appius Claudius Crassus, as being
I. blind, Cic. Brut. 14, 55; cf. Liv. 9, 29, 11; Cic. Sen. 6, 16.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *kaikos (“blind, eyeless”), from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ikos (“one-eyed”). Cognates include Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (haihs), Old Irish cáech (“one-eyed”), caoch (“blind”).

Elsewhere
  • Englishcaecum
  • Frenchcæcum
  • Italiancieco
  • Portuguesecegofrom Old Galician-Portuguese cego
  • Romanianceață
  • Spanishciegofrom Old Spanish ciego
  • Aragoneseziego
  • Asturianciegu
  • Old Frenchcieu
  • Old Frenchciu
Old Occitan
  • Catalancec
  • Occitancèc
Northern Italo-Romance
  • Romagnolcig
Sardinian
  • Campidanesetzegu
  • Logudoresetzegu
  • Nuoresetzecu

Quick answers

What does caecus mean in Latin?
caecus, a adjective, means “blind (not seeing); blind, blinded (mentally or morally); blind, at random, vague, indiscriminate, aimless, meaningless, acting blindly”.
How do you pronounce caecus?
In classical Latin, [ˈkae̯.kʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈt͡ʃɛː.kus].