LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

mendācium

mendācium n (genitive mendāciī or mendācī)
Classical[mɛnˈdaː.ki.ũː]Ecclesiastical[menˈdaː.t͡ʃi.um]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. A lie, untruth, falsehood, fiction.
    ‘addis’ ait ‘culpae mendācia,’ Phoebus ‘et audēs‘‘So saying, [do] you add lies to your fault?’’ says Phoebus. ‘‘And [do] you dare wish to deceive the god of prophecy with words?’’8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 2.261–262
    quī nītitur mendāciīs hic pāscit ventōs: idem autem ipse sequitur avēs volantēs He that trusteth to lies feedeth the winds: and the same runneth after birds that fly away. (Douay-Rheims trans., Challoner rev.; 1752 CE)c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Proverbs.10.4
  2. An illusion, counterfeit.

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quod falsum dīcitur; mendācia nārrāre.
mendācium -ī n — in Mille Verba, Theātrum

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemendācium
mendāciolum, mendāciunculum		mendācia
mendāciola, mendāciuncula
genitivemendāciī
mendācī, mendāciolī, mendāciunculī		mendāciōrum
mendāciolōrum, mendāciunculōrum
dativemendāciō
mendāciolō, mendāciunculō		mendāciīs
mendāciolīs, mendāciunculīs
accusativemendācium
mendāciolum, mendāciunculum		mendācia
mendāciola, mendāciuncula
ablativemendāciō
mendāciolō, mendāciunculō		mendāciīs
mendāciolīs, mendāciunculīs
vocativemendācium
mendāciolum, mendāciunculum		mendācia
mendāciola, mendāciuncula

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

mendacium dicere
to tell lies.

mendācĭum, ii, n. mendax,
I. a lie, untruth, falsehood.
I. Lit. (class.): dicere alicui mendacium de re aliquā, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 9, 33: mendacio fallere, Cic. Mur. 30, 62: vatum, Ov. F. 6, 253: famae, id. ib. 4, 311: immensa spirant mendacia, Juv. 7, 111: Titiae meae, cum quā sine mendacio vixi, i. e. honestly, without hypocrisy, Dig. 34, 2, 36: prophetāsti mendacium, Vulg. Jer. 20, 6; cf. id. ib. 27, 10: credere mendacio, to believe a lie, id. 2 Thess. 2, 11.—
B. Esp., a fable, fiction (opp. historic truth): poëtarum, Curt. 3, 1, 4.—
II. Transf., of things, a counterfeit (post-Aug.): neque est imitabilior alia mendacio vitri, Plin. 37, 8, 33, § 112; 35, 6, 29, § 48.

Origins

From mendāc- (“lying”, “untruthful”, oblique stem of mendāx) + -ium (nominal suffix).

Descendants
  • Italianmendacio

In English words that came into English from mendācium

  • mendaciousmendācium

Quick answers

What does mendācium mean in Latin?
mendācium, a noun, means “A lie, untruth, falsehood, fiction.; An illusion, counterfeit.”.
What is the genitive of mendācium?
The genitive singular is mendāciī. mendācium is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce mendācium?
In classical Latin, [mɛnˈdaː.ki.ũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [menˈdaː.t͡ʃi.um].