LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

in cassum

in cassum (not comparable)

Meaning

  1. not comparablein vain
    In cassum cadunt omnia tua promissa.All your promises are in vain.
    Bene promittis multa ex multis: omnia in cassum cadunt.You promise many things to many people: they all prove to be in vain. You pile up fine promises sky-high: down they all drop to nothing. (translated by Paul Nixon, Plautus IV (Loeb), 1980, p. 37)c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 1.2.152

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Frustra · Nequidquam · Incassum · Irritus

1. Frustra (from ψύθος) means in vain, with reference to the subject, whose expectation and calculations have been disappointed; whereas nequidquam (that is, in nequidquam, in nihil), to no purpose, refers to the nullity in which the thing has ended. 2. Hence frustra, used adjectively, refers to the person; whereas irritus, the actual adjective, refers to the thing. 3. Frustra and nequidquam denote merely a failure, without imputing a fault, like μάτην; whereas incassum involves the accessory notion of a want of consideration, by which the failure might have been calculated upon, and foreseen, as in attempting any thing manifestly or proverbially impossible, εἴς κενόν. (iii. 100.)

Origins

From in (“in”) + cassum (“hollow, empty”), accusative of cassus.

Quick answers

What does in cassum mean in Latin?
in cassum, a adverb, means “in vain”.