noun · neutersecond declension
dorsum1
dorsum n (genitive dorsī)
Classical[ˈdɔr.sũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈdɔr.sum]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- neuterthe back (part of the body between the neck and buttocks)
- neuterthe ridge, summit of a hill, a reef in the sea; any elevation
Trīs Notus abreptās in saxa latentia torquet — saxa vocant Italī mediīs quae in flūctibus ārās — dorsum immāne marī summō [...]. Three [ships] were taken away [by] the Southwind, hurled into hidden rocks – rocks the Italians call the Altars, which [are] in the middle of the waves – a vast reef near the surface of the sea.
(This “vast reef” or “huge ridge” posed a hidden danger; understood more imaginatively, a “monstrous spine” of rock destroyed the ships. Notus was the Greek south wind.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.108–110Quae ab situ porrectae in dorso urbis Longa Alba appellata
This [new city] was named Alba Longa, from its position, as it lay stretched out along the ridge27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita I.3
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
tergum hominis vel animālis; equus dorsō onera portat.dorsum -ī n — in Mille Verba, Corpus Hūmānum
tergum, pars superior animālisdorsum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 5
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | dorsum | dorsa dossa |
| genitive | dorsī dossī | dorsōrum dossōrum |
| dative | dorsō dossō | dorsīs dossīs |
| accusative | dorsum | dorsa dossa |
| ablative | dorsō dossō | dorsīs dossīs |
| vocative | dorsum | dorsa dossa |
dorsum, i, n. (
I. masc. dorsus, Plaut. Mil. 2, 4, 44; quoted ap. Non. 203, 6) [cf. Gr. δειρή, δέρη, neck], the back (in class. prose, only of beasts of burden; poet. and later also of men; cf.: tergum, tergus).
I. Prop., Plaut. l. l.; id. Ep. 1, 1, 85; id. Trin. 3, 2, 93; Plin. 11, 37, 86, § 214; Verg. G. 3, 116; Hor. S. 1, 9, 21.—Prov.:
dorsus prurit, i. e. I begin to take, Plaut. Mil. 2, 4, 44.—II. Transf., of things analogous in form or position: jugi, i. e. the ridge, summit of a hill, * Caes. B. G. 7, 44; Liv. 44, 4:
montis, id. 1, 3; 41, 18; Tac. A. 4, 47: Apennini, Suet. Caes. 44: praerupti nemoris, Hor. S. 2, 6, 91; cf. nemoris, Verg. G. 3, 436: speluncae, i. e. the rock, id. A. 8, 234; cf. of a cliff, id. ib. 1, 110; 10, 303 Serv.; Plin. Ep. 6, 31, 17; 9, 7, 4: viae, the raised part of it, Stat. S. 4, 3, 44: duplex dentalium, the projecting irons, Verg. G. 1, 172.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
dorsum ī, n, or (old) dorsus, ī, m
the back (of a beast of burden): Impositi dorso, on horseback, V.: gravius dorso onus, H.: tauri, O.—A back, ridge: dorsum esse eius iugi aequum ... silvestrem, Cs.: in dorso (montis) urbs, L.: praerupti nemoris, slope, H.: speluncae, i. e. rock, V.: Saxa ... Dorsum inmane, cliff, V.: duplici aptantur dentalia dorso, projecting irons, V.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *dorsom, probably derived from deorsum (“downwards”) < *dēvorsum, with a semantic shift from "turned away from" > "back". Ramat notes that the two terms' contemporaneous use suggests that one was not a phonetic development of the other; however, De Vaan explains this as a case of lexical differentiation in the written and by extension spoken forms. A potential connection with a Proto-Celtic *dros-man, giving Old Irish druimm (“back, ridge”), is unclear.
Descendants
- Catalandors
- Englishdorsum
- Italiandorso
- Portuguesedorso
- Spanishdorso
- Vulgar Latindossum
- Esperantodorso
In English words that came into English from dorsum
- dorsaldorsālis
- endorsedossum
- dorsumdorsum
- dossarddorsum