LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

excubiae

excubiae f pl (genitive excubiārum)

Meaning

  1. femininepluralwatching, keeping watch (outside)
  2. feminineplurala watch, guard (group of people keeping watch)

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

vigiliae noctis mīlitārēs
excubiae -ārum (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 20

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Excubiæ · Stationes · Vigiliæ

Excubiæ are the sentinels before the palace, as guards of honor and safeguards; stationes, guards stationed at the gate as an outpost; vigiliæ, guards in the streets during the night as a patrol.

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominative—excubiae
genitive—excubiārum
dative—excubiīs
accusativeexcubiamexcubiās
ablative—excubiīs
vocative—excubiae

excŭbĭae, ārum, f. id.,
I. a lying out of the house.
I. In gen., Plaut. Cas. prol. 54.—Far more freq. and class.,
II. In partic., a lying out on guard, a watching, keeping watch (cf.: custodia, vigiliae, insomnia): si haec arma, si Capitolinae cohortes, si excubiae, si vigiliae, etc., Cic. Mil. 25, 67; id. Phil. 7, 9, 24; id. Planc. 42, 101; Tac. A. 13, 18; id. H. 4, 11; Suet. Aug. 23; 30; Verg. A. 9, 159 et saep.: tristes (i. e. severae) vigilum canum, Hor. C. 3, 16, 3: grues excubias habent nocturnis temporibus, Plin. 10, 23, 30, § 59.—Poet.: centum aras posuit vigilemque sacraverat ignem, Excubias divum aeternas, Verg. A. 4, 200. —
B. Transf., concr., persons keeping watch, a watch, guard: num excubias transiret, Tac. A. 14, 44: inter excubias militum pernoctavit, Suet. Claud. 10.

Origins

From excubō.

Quick answers

What does excubiae mean in Latin?
excubiae, a noun, means “watching, keeping watch (outside); a watch, guard (group of people keeping watch)”.
What is the genitive of excubiae?
The genitive singular is excubiārum. excubiae is feminine, first declension.