LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

fōns

fōns m (genitive fontis)
Classical[ˈfõːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈfɔns]
№ 706 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. water issuing from the ground, a spring
  2. plural normallypoeticthe water or waters of a river, sea etc.
  3. metonymicallya well, fountain or font (a large container where water pools)
  4. metonymicallythe baptismal font (a pool or basin of water used for baptism)
  5. broadlythe origin or source of a river (also figuratively)
  6. broadlythe foundation, basic principle, cause

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

locus, unde aqua ē terrā salit; aqua fontis pūra et frīgida est.
fōns fontis m — in Mille Verba, Domus et Familia
caput aquārum
fōns fontis (m) — in Epistulae, ch. 7

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativefōns
fonticulus		fontēs
fonticulī
genitivefontis
fonticulī		fontium
fonticulōrum
dativefontī
fonticulō		fontibus
fonticulīs
accusativefontem
fonticulum		fontēs
fontīs, fonticulōs
ablativefonte
fonticulō		fontibus
fonticulīs
vocativefōns
fonticule		fontēs
fonticulī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

haec ex eodem fonte fluunt, manant
these things have the same origin.
fons et caput (vid. sect. III., note caput...)
source, origin.
e fontibus haurire (opp. rivulos consectari or fontes non videre)
to draw from the fountain-head.

fons, fontis, m. root in Gr. χέϝω, χεύσω, to pour, χύμα, χοή, etc.; Lat. fundo, futtilis. Fons, i. e. stem font, for fovont = χεϝοντ-; cf. Varr. L. L. 5, § 123 Müll.; and Paul. ex Fest. p. 84,
I. a spring, fountain, well-source (syn.: scaturigo, puteus).
I. Lit.: late parvus aquaï Prata riget fons, Lucr. 5, 603: fons dulcis aquaï, id. 6, 890: fons aquae dulcis, cui nomen Arethusa est, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 53, § 118: rivorum a fonte deductio, id. Top. 8, 33: est apud Hammonis fanum fons luce diurna Frigidus, et calidus nocturno tempore, Lucr. 6, 848 sq.; cf. ib. 873: eunt ad fontem, nitidant (i. e. abluunt) corpora, Enn. ap. Non. 144, 16 (Trag. v. 166 ed. Vahl.); Caes. B. C. 2, 24 fin.; 3, 49, 5: (Romulus) locum delegit fontibus abundantem, Cic. Rep. 2, 6: fontium qui celat origines, Nilus, Hor. C. 4, 14, 45; id. Ep. 1, 16, 12; id. Epod. 2, 27: fontes Alandri, Liv. 38, 15, 15: Padi fons diebus aestivis aret, Plin. 2, 102, 105, § 229: vestris amicum fontibus et choris, Hor. C. 3, 4, 25: fas pervicaces est mihi Thyiadas Vinique fontem lactis et uberes Cantare rivos, the fountains or streams of wine drawn from the earth by the stroke of the thyrsus, id. ib. 2, 19, 10: cum tui fontes vel inimicis tuis pateant, Cic. Mur. 4, 9.—
B. Esp.
1. A mineral spring, healing waters, = aquae, frigidi medicatique fontes, Cels. 4, 5; cf.: caput et stomachum supponere fontibus Clusinis, Hor. Ep. 1, 15, 8: fons calidus medicae salubritatis, Plin. 5, 15, 16, § 72: medicatorum fontium vis, id. 2, 93, 95, § 207.—
2. Transf., spring-water, water (poet.): utrum fontine an Libero imperium te inhibere mavis? Plaut. Stich. 5, 4, 26: alii fontemque ignemque ferebant, Verg. A. 12, 119; Luc. 5, 337. —
II. Trop., a fountain-head, source, origin, cause: meos amicos...ad Graecos ire jubeo, ut ea a fontibus potius potius hauriant, quam rivulos consectentur, Cic. Ac. 1, 2, 8; so opp. rivuli, id. de Or. 2, 27, 117; id. Cael. 8, 19: fons maledicti, id. Planc. 23, 57: hic fons, hoc principium est movendi, id. Rep. 6, 25: scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons, Hor. A. P. 309; cf.: Cilicia origo et fons belli, Flor. 3, 6: ab illo fonte et capite Socrate, Cic. de Or. 1, 10, 42: quorum (philosophorum) fons ipse Socrates, Quint. 1, 10, 13; cf.: atqui rerum caput hoc erat et fons, Hor. Ep. 1, 17, 45: oratorum partus atque fontes, Cic. Brut. 13, 49: haec omnia ex eodem fonte fluxerunt, id. N. D. 3, 19, 48: omnes omnium rerum, quae ad dicendum pertinerent, fontes animo ac memoria continere, id. de Or. 1, 21, 94: philosophiae fontes aperire, id. Tusc. 1, 3, 6: totos eloquentiae aperire, Quint. 6, 1, 51: dicendi facultatem ex intimis sapientiae fontibus fluere, id. 12, 2, 6; cf. id. 5, 10, 19: fontes ut adire remotos Atque haurire queam vitae praecepta beate, Hor. S. 2, 4, 94: ex iis fontibus unde omnia ornamenta dicendi sumuntur, Cic. de Or. 2, 11, 45; id. Rep. 5, 3: causa atque fons maeroris, id. Tusc. 3, 28, 67: benevolentia, qui est amicitiae fons a natura constitutus, id. Lael. 14, 50: is fons mali hujusce fuit, Liv. 39, 15, 9: fons vitii et perjurii, thou source of all iniquity, Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 51; cf. Petr. 24.—
III. Fons, personified as a deity, with a chapel, Cic. N. D. 3, 20, 52.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *fontis, from earlier *θontis, from a Proto-Indo-European root cognate with Sanskrit धन्वति (dhanvati, “flows, runs”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰónh₂-ti-s, from *dʰenh₂- (“to flow”).

Descendants
  • Catalanfont
  • Frenchfonts
  • Italianfonte
  • Occitanfònt
  • Portuguesefontefrom Old Galician-Portuguese fonte
  • Spanishfuente
  • Englishfontfrom Old English font
  • Aragonesefuent
  • Asturianfonte
  • Asturianfuente

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesFonsFons (κρήνη) signifies originally a natural spring of water, but both the Greeks and Romans had artificial fountains, made either by covering and deco…

Quick answers

What does fōns mean in Latin?
fōns, a noun, means “water issuing from the ground, a spring; the water or waters of a river, sea etc.; a well, fountain or font (a large container where water pools)”.
What is the genitive of fōns?
The genitive singular is fontis. fōns is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce fōns?
In classical Latin, [ˈfõːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈfɔns].