LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

culter

culter m (genitive cultrī)
Classical[ˈkʊɫ.tɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈkul.ter]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. masculineknife
  2. masculinerazor

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quō carnem dīvidimus; parvus gladius mēnsae.
culter -trī m — in Mille Verba, Cibus et Convīvium

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativecultercultrī
genitivecultrīcultrōrum
dativecultrōcultrīs
accusativecultrumcultrōs
ablativecultrōcultrīs
vocativecultercultrī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

sicam, cultrum in corde alicuius defigere (Liv. 1. 58)
to plunge a dagger, knife in some one's heart.

culter, tri, m. kindr. with Sanscr. kar, to wound, kill; cf. per-cello, clades.
I. Orig. a plough-coulter, ploughshare, Plin. 18, 18, 48, § 171 sq.—
II. In gen., a knife; so a vintner's knife, Col. 4, 25, 2; 12, 45, 4; a butcher's knife, Plaut. Rud. 1, 2, 46; Liv. 3, 48, 5: qui ad cultrum bovem emunt, i. e. for slaughter, Varr. R. R. 2, 5, 11; Suet. Tib. 25; Scrib. Comp. 13; a razor: cultros metuens tonsorios, Cic. Off. 2, 7, 25: cultrum tonsorium super jugulum meum posui, Petr. 108, 11; Plin. 7, 59, 59, § 211; a hunting-knife, Petr. 40; Suet. Aug. 19; id. Claud. 13; a cook's knife, Plaut. Aul. 3, 2, 3; Varr. ap. Non. p. 195, 16: tympanum versatile, in cultro collocatum, placed on the edge, on the small side, perpendicularly, Vitr. 10, 14; in the same sense: in cultrum collocare, id. 10, 10.—Prov.: sub cultro, under the knife, i. e. in extreme peril or distress, Hor. S. 1, 9, 74.

Origins

Uncertain. Explanations include: * From a formation equivalent to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kolh₂_/₃-trom, from the root *(s)kelH- (“to cut”). * From the root *(s)ker- (“to shear, cut off”) to a preform *kor-tro- which has undergone dissimilation */rtr/ > /ltr/. Both of the above etymologies assume a change in the suffix *-trom (and in gender), which otherwise would yield Latin *-trum. Compare Sanskrit कर्त्तृ (karttṛ), Ashkun kāṭi, Kamkata-viri kaṭo, kṭo, Prasuni iti, Tregami kāṭäy, Waigali kaṭä, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kért-tōr.

Elsewhere
  • Frenchcoutrefrom Old French coltre
  • Italiancoltro
  • Italiancultro
  • Occitancotre
  • Portuguesecultro
  • Aragonesecuitre
  • Aragonesecultre
  • Old Spanishcuitre
  • Esperantokoltro
  • Welshcwlltrfrom Old Welsh cultir
Proto-West Germanic
  • Englishcolterfrom Old English culter
  • Englishcoulterfrom Old English culter
  • GermanKolterfrom Middle Low German kolter
  • Scotscouterfrom Old English culter
  • Scotscooterfrom Old English culter
  • Dutchkouterfrom Middle Dutch couter

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesCulterCulter (dim. cultellus, Engl. coulter; in Southern Germany, das Kolter; French, couteau; Greek, μάχαιρα, κοπίς, or σφαγίς), a knife with only one edge…

Quick answers

What does culter mean in Latin?
culter, a noun, means “knife; razor”.
What is the genitive of culter?
The genitive singular is cultrī. culter is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce culter?
In classical Latin, [ˈkʊɫ.tɛr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkul.ter].