nounsecond declension
cancrum ōris
cancrum ōris n (genitive cancrī ōris)
Meaning
- cancrum oris
quando epidemice haec labes saevit ob quas causas Anglicum vulgus eam Mouth Canker, aut Canker of the Mouth, id est Cancrum Oris appellat: quod nomen de aliis quoque ulcerosis ac malignis Oris affectibus usurpat.
1649, Arnold Boate, Observationes medicae de affectibus omissis (page 26)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cancrum ōris | cancra ōris |
| genitive | cancrī ōris | cancrōrum ōris |
| dative | cancrō ōris | cancrīs ōris |
| accusative | cancrum ōris | cancra ōris |
| ablative | cancrō ōris | cancrīs ōris |
| vocative | cancrum ōris | cancra ōris |
Origins
From cancrum (“canker”) and ōris (“of the mouth, face”), genitive singular of ōs (“mouth, face”). First attested in 1649 (see below) in a source that gives it as a translation of an English common name "mouth canker" or "canker of the mouth", and in a context where it is accusative singular (and therefore cancrum could be the masculine accusative singular of cancer). Later authors' interpretation of it as a neuter singular form may be a grammatical blunder.