proper noun · masculinesecond declension
Gāius1
Gāius m (genitive Gāiī or Gāī, feminine Gāia)
Classical[ˈɡaː.i.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈɡaː.i.us]
Meaning
- a masculine praenomen, in particular
Qui totus servatus est in Gaiorum et Quintorum laterculis.
Which was kept in its entirety on the registers of Gaiuses and Quintuses. - Gaius (an eminent jurist who lived in the second century A.D.)
- Caligula, the emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Gāius | Gāiī Gāī |
| genitive | Gāiī Gāī | Gāiōrum |
| dative | Gāiō | Gāiīs Gāīs |
| accusative | Gāium | Gāiōs |
| ablative | Gāiō | Gāiīs Gāīs |
| vocative | Gāī Gāje | Gāiī Gāī |
Gāĭus (less correctly Cāĭus;
I.
trisyl., Cat. 10, 30; Mart. 9, 22, 12; 11, 36, 8); gen. Gāi (voc. Gāi, Mart. 10, 16, 1), m., and Gāĭa, ae, f. for Gavius; from gaudeo, a Roman prœnomen, usu. written C.; v. the letter G. Gaia was written O, Quint. 1, 7, 28; Vel. Long. p. 2218; P. prol. p. 1502.— At marriage festivals it was customary to call the bridegroom and bride Gaius and Gaia, Fest. s. v. Gaia, p. 71; Quint. l. l.; Cic. Mur. 12 fin.—II. In partic.
A. An eminent jurist who lived about A.D. 110-180, author of the Institutionum Commentarii IV., which contain a systematic summary of the Roman law of family relations, of private property, and of actions; and which for generations was a standard educational work on the subject. This work was known, however, to modern scholars only by the fragments preserved in the Pandects, etc., until in 1816 Niebuhr discovered in the Chapter House of Verona a nearly complete MS. of the original work of Gaius, over which works of St. Jerome had been written. Teuffel, Gesch. d. Röm. Lit. p. 812 sqq.—
B. In post-Aug. historians, esp., the emperor Gaius Caligula; hence, Gāiānus or Cāiānus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Caligula:
custodia, Sen. Tranq. 11: clades, id. ib. 14 fin.: expeditiones, Tac. 4, 15: nex, Suet. Tit. 1: as (because lowered in value by him), Stat. Sil. 4, 9, 22.Origins
For Gāvius, from Proto-Italic *Gāwjos, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *geh₂w- (“to rejoice”). Cognate with gaudeō, gaudium. Cognate with Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌄 (cae).
Descendants
- GermanGajus
- ItalianGaio
- ItalianCaio
- PortugueseGaio
- PortugueseCaio
- SpanishGayo
- Ancient GreekΓάϊος
- Copticⲅⲁⲓⲟⲥ
- Faliscan𐌊𐌀𐌉𐌏𐌔
- IndonesianGayus