LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

dēfectiō

dēfectiō f (genitive dēfectiōnis)
Classical[deːˈfɛk.ti.oː]Ecclesiastical[deˈfɛk.t͡si.o]

Meaning

  1. defection, desertion
  2. rebellion, revolt (of a city)
    Ea tum cura maxime intentos habebat Romanos, non ab ira tantum, quae in nullam unquam ciuitatem iustior fuit, quam quod urbs tam nobilis ac potens, sicut defectione sua traxerat aliquot populos, ita recepta inclinatura rursus animos uidebatur ad ueteris imperii respectum.This concern in particular troubled the mindful Romans at the time, not so much because of anger, which has never been more justified against any other city, rather because a city so noble and powerful, in the same way that it had attracted the support of a number of communities by its revolt, was thought would again turn attention back towards respect for the previous government once recaptured.27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 26.1
  3. failing, failure, deficiency, want, disappearance, decline
  4. eclipse
    Quam dēlectābat eum dēfectiōnēs sōlis et lūnae multō ante nōbīs praedīcere!How much it delighted him to predict for us the eclipses of the sun and the moon long before [they occurred]! (See: Gaius Sulpicius Gallus.)106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute 14.49
  5. ellipsis
  6. a fainting spell, failure of energy or stamina

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativedēfectiōdēfectiōnēs
genitivedēfectiōnisdēfectiōnum
dativedēfectiōnīdēfectiōnibus
accusativedēfectiōnemdēfectiōnēs
ablativedēfectiōnedēfectiōnibus
vocativedēfectiōdēfectiōnēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

solis defectio
an eclipse of the sun.

dēfectĭo, ōnis, f. deficio.
I. Defection, desertion, rebellion, revolt.
A. Lit.: rebellio facta post deditionem, defectio datis obsidibus, Caes. B. G. 3, 10; 5, 26; 6, 3, 4; Liv. 7, 42; 23, 12: Ampsivariorum a tergo, in the rear (of Caesar), Tac. A. 2, 8; 4, 24 et saep.: subita defectio Pompeii, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 4, 4 al.: imperii, from the empire, Just. 41, 2, 1.—*
B. Trop.: intemperantia, quae est a tota mente et a recta ratione defectio, Cic. Tusc. 4, 9, 22.—
II. (Acc. to deficio, no. III.) A failing, failure, deficiency, want, disappearance.
a. Lit. (so most freq.): ista ipsa defectio virium adolescentiae vitiis efficitur saepius quam senectutis, Cic. de Sen. 9, 29: aquarum, Frontin. Aquaed. 91: pecuniae, Macr. Sat. 2, 5: rerum, Sen. Q. N. 4, 2.—
b. Esp. of the obscuration of the heavenly bodies, an eclipse: solis defectiones itemque lunae praedicuntur in multos annos, Cic. Div. 2, 6, 17; 1, 49 fin.; id. N. D. 2, 61; id. Rep. 1, 14 fin.; Sen. Q. N. 1, 12; Quint. 1, 10, 47; Tac. A. 1, 28 et saep.—
c. Also (sc. virium), exhaustion, faintness, swooning, fainting (post-Aug. prose), Plin. 23, praef. § 4: animae, a swoon, Cels. 7, 33; Suet. Cal. 50: alvo usque ad defectionem soluta, id. Vesp. 24; cf. id. Tib. 73: recreandae defectioni cibum adferre, Tac. A. 6, 56 (50); cf.: defectione perire, by exhaustion, i. e. by disease, Sen. N. Q. 2, 59, 11: in cunctis renibus, Vulg. Nahum 2, 10.—
d. In the later grammarians, an ellipsis: dicere aliquid per defectionem, by ellipsis, elliptically, Gell. 5, 8, 3; 12, 14, 3; Macr. Sat. 6, 8 al.— *
B. Trop.: Quintus frater omnia mittit spei plena, metuens credo defectionem animi mei, my want of courage, despondency, Cic. Att. 3, 18.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin dēfectiō From dēficiō + -tiō.

Descendants
  • Catalandefecció
  • Englishdefection
  • Frenchdéfection
  • Italiandefezione
  • Portuguesedefeção
  • Romaniandefecțiune
  • Spanishdefección

Quick answers

What does dēfectiō mean in Latin?
dēfectiō, a noun, means “defection, desertion; rebellion, revolt (of a city); failing, failure, deficiency, want, disappearance, decline”.
What is the genitive of dēfectiō?
The genitive singular is dēfectiōnis. dēfectiō is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce dēfectiō?
In classical Latin, [deːˈfɛk.ti.oː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [deˈfɛk.t͡si.o].