noun · masculinefourth declension
cāsus1
cāsus m (genitive cāsūs)
Classical[ˈkaː.sʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkaː.s̬us]
№ 344 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- a fall, downwards movement
- accident, chance
- an event, happening, occurrence
- misfortune, disaster, destruction, accident
quem saepe trānsiit cāsus, aliquandō invenit.
he who oft has shunned misfortune meets at last his fate.L. Annaeus Seneca, Hercules, line 328 - A case, termination
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
quod nōn exspectātum cadit; cāsū = forte.cāsus -ūs m — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors
fortūna, nōn cōnsiliumcāsus -ūs (m) — in IVLIANVS II: Imperium, ch. 21
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Casus · Fors · Fortuna · Fors Fortuna · Fatum
1. Casus denotes chance as an inanimate natural agent, which is not the consequence of human calculation, or of known causes, like συμφορά; whereas fors denotes the same chance as a sort of mythological being, which, without aim or butt, to sport as it were with mortals, and baffle their calculations, influences human affairs, like τύχη. 2. Fors, as a mythological being, is this chance considered as blind fortune; whereas Fortuna is fortune, not considered as blind, and without aim, but as taking a part in the course of human affairs from personal favor or disaffection; lastly, fors fortuna means a lucky chance, ἀγαθὴ τύχη. 3. All these beings form an opposition against the Dii and Fatum, which do not bring about or prevent events from caprice or arbitrary will, but according to higher laws; and the gods, indeed, according to the intelligible laws of morality, according to merit and worth, right and equity; fatum, according to the mysterious laws by which the universe is eternally governed, like εἱμαρμένη, μοῖρα. Tac. Hist. iv. 26. Quod in pace fors seu natura, tunc fatum et ira deorum vocabatur. (295.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cāsus | cāsūs cāsī |
| genitive | cāsūs cāsī | cāsuum |
| dative | cāsuī | cāsibus |
| accusative | cāsum | cāsūs |
| ablative | cāsū | cāsibus |
| vocative | cāsus | cāsūs cāsī |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- multis casibus iactari
- to experience the ups and downs of life.
- ancipites et varii casus
- the changes and chances of this life.
- ad omnes casus se comparare
- to prepare oneself for all contingencies.
- ad omnes casus subsidia comparare
- to be prepared for all that may come.
- sub varios incertosque casus subiectum esse
- to have to submit to the uncertainties of fortune; to be subject to Fortune's caprice.
- futura or casus futuros (multo ante) prospicere
- to foresee the far distant future.
- longe prospicere futuros casus rei publicae (De Amic. 12. 40)
- to foresee political events long before.
cāsus (Ciceronis temporibus paulumque infra s geminabatur: cassus, etc., Quint. 1, 7, 20; cf.: causa, Juppiter al.; in inscr. also KASVS), ūs (dat. casu, Nep. Alcib. 6, 4), m. cado.
I. Lit., a falling (acc. to cado, I. A. and C.).
A. A falling down, etc.:
stillicidi, Lucr. 1, 313: geli, id. 5, 205: nivis, Liv. 21, 35, 6: fulminum, Plin. 2, 50, 51, § 135; Ov. M. 8, 259: celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres, Hor. C. 2, 10, 10.—In plur., Lucr. 2, 231.—B. A fall, an overthrow, a throwing down:
occumbunt multi letum praecipe casu, Enn. Ann. 391 Vahl.: eoque ictu me ad casum dari, Att. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 22, 44: casus, quo (infantes) in terram toties deferuntur, Quint. 1, 12, 10; Lucr. 5, 1333: vehiculi, Plin. 28, 2, 4, § 21 al.—In plur.: cum loci Inciperent casus, i. e. the fall, destruction (by an earthquake), Ov. M. 8, 714.—II. Trop.
A. Of time, the end:
extremae sub casum hiemis, Verg. G. 1, 340.—B. A moral fall, a false step, an error, fall:
multas vias adulescentiae lubricas ostendit (natura), quibus illa insistere, aut ingredi sine casu aliquo ac prolapsione vix posset, Cic. Cael. 17, 41.—So of a political fall, Cic. Sest. 67, 140.—2. Esp., a fall or change from a higher to a lower condition:
secum reputans quam gravis casus in servitium ex regno foret, Sall. J. 62, 9.—C. That which turns out or happens unexpectedly, an occurrence, event, accident, chance, misfortune, emergency (this most freq. in sing. and plur.):
quid est enim aliud fors, quid fortuna, quid casus, quid eventus, nisi cum sic aliquid cecidit, sic evenit, ut vel non cadere atque evenire, vel aliter cadere atque evenire potuerit? etc., Cic. Div. 2, 6, 15: quis iste tantus casus? unde tam felix concursus atomorum? cf. id. N. D. 1, 32, 90: novi casus temporum, id. Imp. Pomp. 20, 60: quod consilium etsi in ejusmodi casu reprehendendum non est, tamen incommode accidit, such an emergency, Caes. B. G. 5, 33: quod in ejusmodi casu accidit, periti ignaris parebant, Curt. 4, 3, 18; 10, 5, 8; Quint. 6, 2, 34; Tac. A. 2, 47; Liv. 24, 2, 11; 38, 8, 5: potest igitur veritatem casus imitari, Cic. Div. 2, 21, 49: quis tantam Rutulis laudem, casusne deusne, Attulerit, Verg. A. 12, 321: sive illud deorum munus sive casus fuit, Curt. 4, 7, 13: quae casus obtulerat, in sapientiam vertenda ratus, Tac. A. 1, 29: ut quemque casus armaverat, Sall. C. 56, 3: si quos locus aut casus conjunxerat, id. J. 97 fin.: in aleam tanti casus se regnumque dare, Liv. 42, 50, 2: ludibrium casūs, id. 30, 30, 5: casum potius quam consilium sequatur, Quint. 7, prooem. § 3: parata ad omnes casus eloquentia, id. 10, 1, 2: bellorum, Tac. A. 1, 61: satis jam eventuum, satis casuum, id. ib. 2, 26: adversi, secundi, Nep. Dat. 5, 4; cf. Suet. Caes. 25; id. Oth. 9: magnus, Caes. B. G. 6, 30; Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 18, 3: mirificus, Cic. Fam. 7, 5, 2: mirabiles, Nep. Timol. 5, 1: rariores, Cic. Off. 2, 6, 19: dubii, Cat. 64, 216; Hor. S. 2, 2, 108: varii, Verg. A. 1, 204: subiti repentinique, Suet. Aug. 73.—Hence, in abl.: casu, adverbially, by chance, casually, by accident, accidentally: quod si haec habent aliquam talem necessitatem, quid est tandem, quod casu fieri aut forte fortunā putemus? Cic. Div. 2, 7, 18: id evenit non temere nec casu, id. N. D. 2, 2, 6: sive casu sive consilio deorum, Caes. B. G. 1, 12; cf. Suet. Claud. 13: necessitate an casu, Quint. 3, 6, 26: casu an persuasu et inductu, id. 5, 10, 69: casu an manibus impeditus, Tac. A. 1, 13: accidit casu ut legati, etc., Nep. Hann. 12, 1; cf. Hor. S. 1, 6, 53; 1, 9, 36; id. Ep. 1, 19, 18; Ov. M. 5, 118; 6, 359; 7, 84 et saep.—Hence, also, b. A chance, an occasion, opportunity for something (esp. freq. in Sall. and Tac.):
aetas illa multo pluris quam nostra casus mortis habet, Cic. Sen. 19, 67; cf.: mortis durae casus, Verg. A. 10, 791: aut vi aut dolis sese casum victoriae inventurum, Sall. J. 25, 9: praeclari facinoris casum dare, id. ib. 56, 4; so, si casus daretur, Tac. A. 1, 13; 11, 9: invadendae Armeniae, id. ib. 12, 50: pugnae, id. ib. 12, 28: bene gerendae rei, id. ib. 13, 36: casum adferre, Quint. 8, 4, 17.— Since the idea of suddenness, unexpectedness, easily passes into that of hostility, adverseness (cf. accido, 4.), casus signifies, 2. Esp., an adverse event, a misfortune, mishap, calamity, = συμφορά:
meum illum casum tam horribilem, tam gravem, tam repentinum, Cic. Sest. 24, 53; id. de Or. 1, 1, 2; Caes. B. G. 7, 1, 4: dolens civitatis casum, Sall. C. 40, 2; cf. id. J. 14, 22; 23, 2; Liv. 37, 17, 7; 23, 22, 3; Cat. 28, 11.—Of disease: si alius casus lecto te adfixit, Hor. S. 1, 1, 81; Ov. M. 4, 142; 14, 473; 15, 494: res minime in hujusmodi casu noxia, in the earthquake, Sen. Q. N. 6, 21, 2; id. Cons. ad Marc. 5, 3: urbis Trojanae, overthrow, Verg. A. 1, 623.—Hence, b. Euphemist. for death:
Saturnini atque Gracchorum casus, Caes. B. C. 1, 7: sui quemque casus per quinquennium absumpsissent, Liv. 23, 22, 3; Sall. J. 73, 1; Hor. S. 2, 5, 49; Suet. Aug. 65; cf. id. Caes. 89; id. Calig. 10.—D. In gram. t. t., a case in the inflection of words:
propter eorum qui dicunt, sunt declinati casus, uti is qui de altero diceret, distinguere posset, quom vocaret, etc., Varr. L. L. 8, § 16 Müll.: casus dicimus... et vocabulorum formas, Paul. ex Fest. p. 58, 11 ib.: ea (verba) sic et casibus et temporibus et genere et numero conservemus, ut, etc., Cic. de Or. 3, 11, 40: barbari casus... casus rectus, id. Or. 48, 160; Quint. 1, 5, 61: obliqui, id. 1, 6, 22: nominativo, dativo, ablativo, id. 7, 9, 13: genitivo, id. 1, 5, 62: Latinus, sextus, i. e. the ablative, Varr. ap. Diom. p. 277 P.: conversi, i. e. obliqui, Cic. N. D. 2, 25, 64: interrogandi (i. e. genetivus), Nigid. ap. Gell. 13, 26 Hertz: vocandi, id. ib.: septimus, Quint. 1, 4, 26.Cāsus, i, m.,
I. a river of Albania, that flows into the Caspian Sea, Plin. 6, 13, 15, § 39; Mel. 3, 5, 4.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
cāsus ūs (dat. cāsū, Cs.), m
1 CAD-, a falling, falling down, fall: nivis casus terrorem adiecit, L.: Antiqui memor casūs, O.: graviore casu Decidunt, H.: casuque fuit miserabile carmen, in his fall, O.: concidit casu gravi, Ph.: altior, Iu.: loci casūs, i. e. destruction (by an earthquake), O. —Fig., of time, the end: sub casum hiemis, V.— A loss, fall, overthrow, ruin, failure: ex nostro casu hanc vitae viam pertimescere: ingredi sine casu aliquo, false step: gravis casus in servitium ex regno, S.: urbis Troianae, V. — Of events, an occurrence, event, accident, chance, emergency: novi casūs temporum: in eiusmodi casu, such an emergency, Cs.: ad talem casum perfugium, L.: si quos locus aut casus coniunxerat, S.: adversi, secundi, N.: magno accidit casu, Cs.: rariores: dubii, H.—A chance, occasion, opportunity: hoc ipso tempore et casu, Cs.: casūs mortis habere: praeclari facinoris casum dare, S.—An adverse event, misfortune, mishap, mischance, accident, calamity: meum casum tam horribilem: ne minimo quidem casu (dat.) locum relinquere, Cs.: sive alius casus lecto te adfixit, H.: Saturnini atque Gracchorum casus, i. e. death, Cs.: cum tantum senatorum sui quemque casūs absumpsissent, L.: Bomilcaris, S.: insontis amici, fate, V. — In gram., a case (of a noun).
Origins
From cāssus with regular degemination after a long vowel, for cadō (“to fall, happen”) + -tus (“action noun suffix”), from Proto-Italic *kadō, Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₂d- (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a semantic loan from Ancient Greek πτῶσις (ptôsis) (cf. also calqued Old Church Slavonic падежь (padežĭ), whence Russian паде́ж (padéž)).
Descendants
- Catalancas
- GermanKasus
- GermanFall
- Italiancaso
- Occitancas
- Frenchcasfrom Old French cas
- Englishcasefrom Old French cas
- Portuguesecaso
- Portugueseacaso
- Romaniancaz