LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

cūnābula

cūnābula n pl (genitive cūnābulōrum)
Classical[kuːˈnaː.bʊ.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[kuˈnaː.bu.la]

Meaning

  1. pluralplural onlycradle
    Qui cum esset in cunabulis educareturque in Solonio, qui est campus agri Lanuvini; noctu lumine apposito, experrecta nutrix animadvertit puerum dormientem circumplicatum serpentis amplexu.Who, when he was in his cradle (being brought up in Solonium, which is a district of the territories of Lanuvium)---a light being located nearby, his nurse woke up and saw the sleeping boy entwined in the coils of a snake.45 BCE, Cicero, De divinatione 1.79
  2. metonymicallypluralplural onlynest of living things
    Ipsae consident medicatis sedibus, ipsaeOf themselves will they [bees] settle on the scented resting-places; of themselves, after their wont, will hide far within their cradling cells.c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 4.65–66
    Nec vero iis minor solertia, quae cunabula in terra faciunt, corporis gravitate prohibitae sublime petere.77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 10.99
  3. metonymicallypluralplural onlyearliest abode, primary dwelling-place
    Idaeum Simoenta Iovis cunabula parvi?30 BCE – 16 BCE, Propertius, Elegiae 3.1.27
    Creta Iovis magni medio iacet insula ponto,29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 3.104–105
  4. metonymicallypluralplural onlybirth, origin
    Nam cum omnium consulum gravis in republica custodienda cura ac diligentia debet esse, tum eorum maxime, qui non in cunabulis, sed in campo sunt consules facti.63 BCE, Cicero, De lege agraria 2.100
    quod facit, qui nequam vicinum suis numis parat, cum a primis cunabulis, si modo liberis parentibus est oriundus, audisse potuerit, [...].4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De re rustica 1.3

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Cunæ · Cunabula

Cunæ (κοῖται) is the cradle itself; incunabula, the bed, etc., that are in the cradle. Plaut. Truc. v. 13. Fasciis opus est, pulvinis, cunis, incunabulis. (vi. 69.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominative—cūnābula
genitivecūnābulīcūnābulōrum
dativecūnābulōcūnābulīs
accusative—cūnābula
ablativecūnābulōcūnābulīs
vocative—cūnābula

cūnābŭla, ōrum, n. cunae,
I. a cradle.
I. Prop., Cic. Div. 1, 36, 79.—Of the resting-place of young animals, Verg. G. 4, 66; Plin. 10, 33, 51, § 99.—
II. Meton.
A. The cradle, i. e. the earliest abode, dwellingplace: Jovis parvi, Prop. 3 (4), 1, 27. gentis nostrae, Verg. A. 3, 105.—
B. Like our cradle, for birth, origin: a primis cunabulis, from earliest childhood, Col. 1, 3, 5: qui non in cunabulis sed in campo sunt consules facti, i. e. not by their descent, Cic. Agr. 2, 36, 100: a primis cunabulis hujus urbis conditae, App. M. 2, p. 128, 27: juris, Dig. 1, 2, 2.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom Proto-Italic *-ðlom Latin -(ā)bula Latin cūnābula From cūnae (“cradle”) + -(ā)bula (nominal suffix denoting vessels or places).

In English words that came into English from cūnābula

  • incunabulumincūnābulum

Quick answers

What does cūnābula mean in Latin?
cūnābula, a noun, means “cradle; nest of living things; earliest abode, primary dwelling-place”.
What is the genitive of cūnābula?
The genitive singular is cūnābulōrum. cūnābula is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce cūnābula?
In classical Latin, [kuːˈnaː.bʊ.ɫa]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [kuˈnaː.bu.la].