LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

caudex1

caudex m (genitive caudicis)
Classical[ˈkau̯.dɛks]Ecclesiastical[ˈkaːu̯.deks]

Meaning

  1. masculinetree trunk, stump
  2. masculinebollard; post
  3. masculinebook, writing; notebook, account book
  4. derogatorymasculineblockhead, idiot

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecaudexcaudicēs
genitivecaudiciscaudicum
dativecaudicīcaudicibus
accusativecaudicemcaudicēs
ablativecaudicecaudicibus
vocativecaudexcaudicēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

codex or tabulae ratio accepti et expensi
account-book; ledger.

caudex, ĭcis, m. (more recent orthography cōdex) [etym. dub.; cf. cauda].
I. The trunk of a tree, the stock, stem (rare).
(a). Caudex, Plin. 16, 30, 53, § 121; 12, 15, 34, § 67; Verg. G. 2, 30 et saep.—
(b). Codex, Ov. M. 12, 432; Col. 4, 8, 2; 5, 6, 21.— Hence,
B. The block of wood to which one was bound for punishment: codex, Plaut. Poen. 5, 3, 39; Prop. 4 (5), 7, 44; Juv. 2, 57. —
C. A term of reproach, block, dolt, blockhead: caudex, Ter. Heaut. 5, 1, 4; Petr. 74.—
II. Inpartic.
A. A block of wood split or sawn into planks, leaves or tablets and fastened together: quia plurium tabularum contextus caudex apud antiquos vocatur, Sen. Brev. Vit. 13, 4: quod antiqui pluris tabulas conjunctas codices dicebant, Varr. ap. Non. p. 535, 20.—Hence,
B. (Since the ancients orig. wrote upon tablets of wood smeared with wax.) A book, a writing (its leaves were not, like the volumina, rolled within one another, but, like those of our books, lay over one another; cf. Dict. of Antiq.).
(a). Caudex, Cato ap. Front. Ep. ad M. Ant. 1, 2.—
(b). Codex, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 46, § 119; id. Clu. 33, 91; Quint. 10, 3, 28; Dig. 32, 1, 52 al.—
C. Esp. of an accountbook and particularly of a ledger (while adversaria signifies the waste-book; hence only the former was of any validity in law): non habere se hoc nomen (this item) in codice accepti et expensi relatum confitetur: sed in adversariis patere contendit, etc., Cic. Rosc. Com. 2, 5; v. the passage in connection; cf. id. ib. 3, 9: in codicis extremā cerā (i. e. upon the last tablet), Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 36. § 92: referre in codicem, id. Sull. 15, 44.—
D. A code of laws: Codex Theodosianus, Justinianus, etc.; cf. Dict. of Antiq. s. v.

Origins

Uncertain. Most likely to be connected to cūdō (“to beat, strike”), both deriving from the same dental extension of Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂-, *keh₂w- (“to beat, hew, chop”), and so originally meant “that which has been cleaved off”. See also cauda (“tail”). Another possibility is a relation to caulis (“stalk”), if this is an l-stem derivative of the same ultimate root, perhaps *ḱawh₁- (“to swell; hollow”) (whence cavus) if both words originally meant “hollow stem”. An older idea connected it to Latin caupulus (“a kind of small boat”), based on the observation that similar words meaning “boat” and “tree” are often related in Indo-European languages, as many Indo-European peoples used hollowed out trees as boats and skiffs.

Descendants
  • Catalancàudex
  • Portuguesecáudice
proper noun · masculinethird declension
Caudex2
Caudex m sg (genitive Caudicis)
Classical[ˈkau̯.dɛks]Ecclesiastical[ˈkaːu̯.deks]

Meaning

  1. masculinesingularA Roman cognomen, famously held by
  2. masculinesingularAppius Claudius Caudex, a Roman consul

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeCaudex—
genitiveCaudicis—
dativeCaudicī—
accusativeCaudicem—
ablativeCaudice—
vocativeCaudex—

Caudex, cis, m.,
I. a Roman cognomen: App. Claudius Caudex, consul A. U. C. 490, B. C. 264, Sen. Brev. Vit. 13, 4; Aur. Vict. 37.

Origins

From caudex (“tree trunk”).

Quick answers

What does caudex mean in Latin?
caudex, a noun, means “tree trunk, stump; bollard; post”.
What is the genitive of caudex?
The genitive singular is caudicis. caudex is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce caudex?
In classical Latin, [ˈkau̯.dɛks]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkaːu̯.deks].