LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

cūnae

cūnae f pl (genitive cūnārum)
Classical[ˈkuː.nae̯]Ecclesiastical[ˈkuː.ne]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. pluralusuallycradle
    8, Ovid, Fasti, book 6, line 167After that, it is said, the birds did not violate the cradle, and to the boy returned his former color.:
  2. metonymicallypluralusuallynest of young birds
    after 8, Ovid, Tristia, book 3, elegy 12, line 10
  3. metonymicallypluralusuallybirth or early childhood, infancy; compare cūnābulum
    8, Ovid, Metamorphoses, book 3, line 313
    8, Ovid, Metamorphoses, book 9, line 67

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

parvus lectus īnfantis, quī movērī potest, ut īnfāns dormiat.
cūnae -ārum f pl — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia

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—cūnae
genitive—cūnārum
dative—cūnīs
accusative—cūnās
ablative—cūnīs
vocative—cūnae

cūnae, ārum (cūna, ae, Prud. Dipt. 112), f.,
I. a cradle.
I. Prop.: tune etiam cubitare solitu's in cunis puer? Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 81: opus est cunis, incunabulis, id. Truc. 5, 13; Cic. Sen. 23, 83; id. Tusc. 1, 39, 93; Quint. 1, 1, 21; Ov. F. 6, 167; id. M. 10, 392; Pers. 2, 31; Juv. 6, 89; Mart. 11, 39, 1; Suet. Aug. 94 et saep.—Of the nests of young birds, Ov. Tr. 3, 12, 10.—
II. Meton., like our cradle, for birth or earliest childhood, Ov. M. 3, 313; 9, 67; cf. cunabula, II. B.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *koinā, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱoy-no- (“lair, cradle”), from *ḱey- (“to lie down”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κοίτη (koítē).

Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italiancuna
  • Italianculla
  • Dalmatiancuna
  • Neapolitanconnola
  • Neapolitanconnula
  • Neapolitancunnura
  • Venetancuna
Ibero-Romance
  • Spanishcuna
Balkano-Romance
  • Aromaniancunã
Gallo-Italic
  • Emiliancuna
  • Emiliancûna
  • Emiliancùna
Borrowings
  • Greekκούνιαfrom Ancient Greek κοῦναι
  • Aromaniancunjefrom Ancient Greek κοῦναι
  • Aromaniancunjifrom Ancient Greek κοῦναι
  • Basquekuma

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesCunaeCunae, CUNABULA (λίκνου, σκάφη), a cradle. It has been thought that cradles were little used by the Greeks, at least in early times; since Plato in a …

Quick answers

What does cūnae mean in Latin?
cūnae, a noun, means “cradle; nest of young birds; birth or early childhood, infancy”.
What is the genitive of cūnae?
The genitive singular is cūnārum. cūnae is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce cūnae?
In classical Latin, [ˈkuː.nae̯]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkuː.ne].