dēdecus
Meaning
- disgrace, dishonor, infamy, shame, discredit.
Tum nostrī cohortātī inter sē, nē tantum dēdecus admitterētur, ūniversī ex nāvī dēsiluērunt. Then our men, having urged amongst themselves that no such awful dishonor should be incurred, leapt from the ship all together. (This passage illustrates the Roman concept of collective honor: the dēdecus, or disgrace, of losing the legionary eagle to the enemy.)
c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 4.25 - That which causes shame; a disgrace, blot, blemish.
- A shameful act; vice, turpitude.
- indecency
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
rēs turpis, quae pudōrem fertturpitūdō, ignōminiaChoosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Ignominia · Infamia · Dedecus · Probrum · Opprobrium
1. Ignominia deprives one of political honor, which is independent of the reports circulated concerning a man, and is the consequence of an official denunciation, the justice of which is supposed; that of the censor, for example, like ἀτιμία; whereas infamia deprives one of moral honor, of one’s good name, has a reference to public scorn, and is the consequence of shameless and dishonorable conduct, like δυσφημία. 2. Ignominia and infamia are abstract, and denote subjective states; dedecus and probrum are concrete, and denote, objectively, disgrace itself; dedecus is a deviation from the conduct that becomes a man of honor, from whom noble actions are expected; probrum is a stain on the morality of a man, from whom, at least, irreproachable conduct is expected. Dedecus is incurred generally in our public relations, by abjectness of spirit, etc.; probrum, in our private relations, by licentiousness, etc. 3. Probrum (from προφέρω is reproach, as far as it can justly be made; opprobrium, reproach, as far as it actually is made. In probrum the disgrace itself is more considered; in opprobrium, the open proclamation of it.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | dēdecus deidecus | dēdecora deidecora, deidecorēs |
| genitive | dēdecoris deidecoris | dēdecorum deidecorum |
| dative | dēdecorī deidecorī | dēdecoribus deidecoribus |
| accusative | dēdecus deidecorem, deidecus | dēdecora deidecora, deidecorēs |
| ablative | dēdecore deidecore | dēdecoribus deidecoribus |
| vocative | dēdecus deidecus | dēdecora deidecora, deidecorēs |
so with ignominia, Cic. Div. 2, 9; with infamia, id. Cluent. 22, 61; cf. id. Cat. 1, 6; with flagitium, id. Mur. 5, 12; with probrum, id. Rosc. Am. 24, 68: vitam per dedecus amittere, Sall. C. 20, 9: in dedecora incurrunt, Cic. Fin. 1, 14, 47; cf. with damnum, Plaut. Bacch. 1, 1, 39: magnum fuit generi vestro, Cic. Brut. 34, 130: dedecori est, Ter. Heaut. 2, 3, 93: dedecori esse (alicui), Cic. Off. 1, 33 fin.; id. Att. 8, 11 et saep.; cf. also: aliter ampla domus dedecori domino fit, id. Off. 1, 39, 139.—decus, quod antiqui summum bonum esse dixerant ... itemque dedecus illi summum malum, Cic. Leg. 1, 21, 55; cf. id. Tusc. 2, 5, 14; id. Fin. 3, 11, 38: dedecus admittere, Caes. B. G. 4, 25, 5; id. B. C. 3, 64 fin.; Cic. Verr. 1, 17, 51; id. Fam. 3, 10, 2 al.: ad avertendos tantorum dedecorum rumores, Suet. Calig. 48 et saep.; of unchastity, Ov. M. 2, 473; 9, 26; Suet. Aug. 68: dedecorum pretiosus emptor, Hor. Od. 3, 6, 32: abdicamus occulta dedecoris, Vulg. 2 Cor. 4, 2.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
From dē (“from, away or down from”) + decus (“glory, honor, dignity”).