capillus
Meaning
- masculinea single hair
- masculinehair (plurally)
- masculinea head of hair: locks, tresses
odōrātīs humerōs perfūsa capillīs
with perfumed tresses overflowing her shoulders8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 2.309
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quod in capite crēscit; capillī iuvenum dēnsī sunt.pilus capitiscrīnis capitisChoosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Crinis · Capillus · Coma · Cæsaries · Pilus · Cirrus · Cincinnus
1. Crinis and capillus denote the natural hair merely in a physical sense, like θρίξ; crinis (from κάρηνον), any growth of hair, in opposition to the parts on which hair does not grow; capillus (from caput), only the hair of the head, in opp. to the beard, etc. Liv. vi. 16. Suet. Aug. 23. Cels. vi. 2. Cic. Tusc. v. 20. Rull. ii. 5; whereas in coma and cæsaries the accessory notion of beauty, as an object of sense, is involved, inasmuch as hair is a natural ornament of the body, or itself the object of ornament; coma (κόμη) is especially applicable to the hair of females; cæsaries, to that of males, like ἔθειρα. Hence crinitus means nothing more than covered with hair; capillatus is used in opp. to bald-headed, Petron. 26, and the Galli are styled comati, as wearing long hair, like καρηκομόωντες. 2. Crinis, capillus, coma, cæsaries, denote the hair in a collective sense, the whole growth of hair; whereas pilus means a single hair, and especially the short and bristly hair of animals. Hence pilosus is in opp. to the beautiful smoothness of the skin, as Cic. Pis. I; whereas crinitus and capillatus are in opp. to ugly nakedness and baldness. (iii. 14.) 3. Cirrus and cincinnus denote curled hair; cirrus (κόῤῥη) is a natural, cincinnus (κίκιννος) an artificial curl. (iii. 23.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | capillus | capillī |
| genitive | capillī | capillōrum |
| dative | capillō | capillīs |
| accusative | capillum | capillōs |
| ablative | capillō | capillīs |
| vocative | capille | capillī |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- capilli horrent
- his hair stands on end.
- capilli compti, compositi (opp. horridi)
- well-ordered, well-brushed hair.
versipellis, Plaut. Pers. 2, 2, 48: compositus (or -um, acc. to Non. l. l.), id. Most. 1, 3, 97; Ter Eun. 4, 3, 4 Ruhnk.; 5, 2, 21: compositus et delibutus, Cic. Rosc. Am. 46, 135: horridus, id. Sest. 8, 19: promissus, long hair, Caes. B. G. 5, 14: longus barbaque promissa, Nep. Dat. 3, 1: horrens. Tac. G. 38: ornatus, Prop. 1, 2, 1: tonsus, Ov. M. 8, 151: niger, Hor. A. P. 37: albus, id. Epod. 17, 23: albescens, id. C. 3, 14, 25: fulvus, Ov. M. 12, 273 (opp. barba): virgines tondebant barbam et capillum patris, Cic. Tusc. 5, 20, 58: capillum et barbam promisisse, Liv. 6, 16, 4; Plin. 11, 39, 94, § 231.—in imaginem capilli unius sat multorum, Cael. Aur. Tard. 2, 11, 29.—So plur. (freq.), Cic. Pis. 11, 25; Prop. 1, 15, 11; 3 (4), 6, 9; Hor. C. 1, 12, 41; 1, 29, 7; 2, 11, 15; 3, 20, 14; Quint. 8, 2, 7; 11, 3, 160 (in Ov. M. alone more than fifty times).—Dionysius cultros metuens tonsorios, candente carbone sibi adurebat capillum, Cic. Off. 2, 7, 25 Beier (cf. id. Tusc. 5, 20, 58: ut barbam et capillum sibi adurerent): ex barbā capillos detonsos neglegimus, Sen. Ep. 92, 34; Suet. Ner. 1.—cuniculi, Cat. 25, 1: apum, Col. 9, 10, 1; Pall. Jun. 7, 7: haedi, Gell. 12, 1, 15: membranae, Pers. 3, 10; cf. Macr. S. 5, 11.—33: capillus in rosā, id. 21, 18, 73, § 121; hence, capillus Veneris, a plant, also called herba capillaris, maidenhair, App. Herb. 47.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
Uncertain. Apparently some diminutive form from the root of caput (“head”). Possibly cognate with Persian کوپله (kuple, “hair of head”) or کوبله (kôbale).
- Catalancabell
- Frenchcheveufrom Old French cheveu
- Italiancapello
- Occitancabel
- Portuguesecabelo
- Spanishcabello
- Dalmatiancapei
- Franco-Provençalchevél
- Bourguignoncheveufrom Old French cheveu
- Lorraintchavoufrom Old French cheveu
- Emiliancavail
- Romagnolcavèl
In English words that came into English from capillus
- capillarycapillāris
- capilliformcapillus
- blackcapātricapillus
- capillaturecapillatura
- capillamentcapillamentum