adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
cassus
cassus (feminine cassa, neuter cassum)
Classical[ˈkas.sʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkas.sus]
Meaning
- adjectivehollow, empty, devoid of something
- adjectivelacking
- adjectiveuseless, fruitless, vain, futile
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Cassis · Galea · Cudo
Cassis, cassida (from κόττα), is a helmet of metal; galea (γαλέη), a helmet of skin, and properly of the skin of a weasel; cudo (κεύθων), a helmet of an indefinite shape. Tac. G. 6. Paucis loricæ; vix uni alterive cassis aut galea.
Rete · Cassis · Plaga
Retia (from ῥῆχος, ἀράχνη,) is the most general expression for fishing and hunting nets; casses and plagæ are implements used in hunting only; casses (from κοττάνη), nets for catching the smaller wild animals; plagæ (from πλέξαι), nets of a stronger texture to get larger animals into one’s power by entangling them. Hor. Ep. 2, 32. Aut trudit acres apros in obstantes plagas, aut amite levi rara tendit retia. (vi. 304.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | cassus | cassa | cassum |
| genitive | cassī | cassae | cassī |
| dative | cassō | cassae | cassō |
| accusative | cassum | cassam | cassum |
| ablative | cassō | cassā | cassō |
| vocative | casse | cassa | cassum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | cassī | cassae | cassa |
| genitive | cassōrum | cassārum | cassōrum |
| dative | cassīs | cassīs | cassīs |
| accusative | cassōs | cassās | cassa |
| ablative | cassīs | cassīs | cassīs |
| vocative | cassī | cassae | cassa |
cassus, a, um, adj.,
I. empty, void, hollow.
I. Prop. (syn.: inanis, vacuus; mostly poet.).
A. Absol.:
nux, Plaut. Ps. 1, 3, 137; Hor. S. 2, 5, 36: glans, Plaut. Rud. 5, 2, 37: canna, unfruitful, Ov. F. 6, 406: granum inane cassumque, Plin. 18, 17, 45, § 161: anulus, Fab. Pict. ap. Gell. 10, 15. 6.—Subst.: palearum cassa, Sol. c. 52 fin.—B. Expressing that of which the subject is empty, etc., wanting, devoid of, deprived of, without.
1. With abl.: sanguine cassa (cochlea), bloodless, Poët. ap. Cic. Div. 2, 64, 133; so,
virgo dote cassa, Plaut. Aul. 2, 2, 14: lumine aër, Lucr. 4, 368: lumine corpus, id. 5, 719; 5, 757: animā corpus, id. 3, 562.—Poet.: cassus lumine (= vitā), deprived of life, dead, Verg. A. 2, 85; imitated by Stat. Th. 2, 15; and in like sense aethere cassus, Verg. A. 11, 104: simulacra cassa sensu, Lucr. 4, 127.—2. With gen.:
cassus luminis ensis, Cic. Arat. 369.—3. With ab:
elementum ab omnibus, App. de Deo Socr. p. 46.—II. Trop., vain, empty, useless, futile, fruitless (syn.: inanis, irritus): cassum quiddam et inani vocis sono decoratum, * Cic. Tusc. 5, 41, 119; so,
copia verborum, Lucr. 4, 511: vota, Verg. A. 12, 780: fertilitas terrae, Ov. M. 5, 482: fraus, Luc. 5, 130: consilia, Sen. Troad. 570: viae, vain, profitless, Stat. Th. 11, 449: labores, Plin. Ep. 8, 23, 6: manus, without effect, Stat. Th. 9, 770: augur futuri, false, erring, id. ib. 9, 629: omen, id. ib. 5, 318.—Subst.: cassa, ōrum, n., empty things: palearum, Sol. 52; esp. of speech: cassa memorare, to talk idly, Plaut. Cist. 4, 1, 16; so, cassa habebantur quae, etc., were thought vain, futile, Tac. H. 3, 55; Sen. Herc. Oet. 352.— Esp. freq. in poetry (in prose, but not in Cic.), in cassum, or, in one word, incas-sum, adverb., in vain, uselessly, to no purpose: ex multis omnia in cassum cadunt, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 147; cf. Lucr. 2, 1165: temere, in cassum frustraque, without aim or purpose, fortuitously, id. 2, 1060; so id. 5, 1002; 5, 1430: furere, Verg. G. 3, 100: longos ciebat Incassum fletus, id. A. 3, 345: tot incassum fusos patiere labores? id. ib. 7, 421.—In prose: quae profecto incassum agebantur, Sall. H. 3, 61, 11 Dietsch: vana incassum jactare tela, Liv. 10, 29, 2: incassum missae preces, id. 2, 49, 8: aliquid incassum disserere, Tac. A. 1, 4; Just. 11, 15, 6; Lact. 6, 9, 17; Sen. Brev. Vit. 11, 1: frustra in cassumque. Mart. Cap. 1, § 10.— Also cassum: quid cassum times? Sen. Herc. Oet. 353; cf.: μάτην, frustra, nequicquam, cassum, Gloss. Cyrill.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
cassus adj.
1 CAR-, empty, void, hollow. nux, a nut-shell, H.: canna, hollow, O.: sanguine, bloodless: lumine, i. e. dead, V.: luminis ensis.— Fig., vain, empty, useless, futile, fruitless: quiddam: vota, V.: fertilitas terrae, O.: in cassum preces mittere, vainly, L.
Origins
Verbal adjective of the same root as careō (“to lack”), castus (“pure”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).
Descendants
- Italiancasso
- Portuguesecasso
In English words that came into English from cassus
- cassationcassō
- casscassō