adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er, pronominal declension)
neuter
neuter (feminine neutra, neuter neutrum)
Classical[ˈne.ʊ.tɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈnɛːu̯.ter]
Meaning
- adjectiveneither, neither one
Neutra acies laeta ex eo certamine abiit
Neither army went off rejoicing from that battle27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita I.2 - adjectiveneuter (gender)
- adjectiveneuter, intransitive (of a verb)
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | in -er neuter | neutra | neutrum |
| genitive | neutrī̆us | neutrī̆us | neutrī̆us |
| dative | neutrī | neutrī | neutrī |
| accusative | neutrum | neutram | neutrum |
| ablative | neutrō | neutrā | neutrō |
| vocative | neuter | neutra | neutrum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | neutrī | neutrae | neutra |
| genitive | neutrōrum | neutrārum | neutrōrum |
| dative | neutrīs | neutrīs | neutrīs |
| accusative | neutrōs | neutrās | neutra |
| ablative | neutrīs | neutrīs | neutrīs |
| vocative | neutrī | neutrae | neutra |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- neutram partem sequi
- to be neutral.
- in neutris partibus esse
- to be neutral.
- nullius or neutrius (of two) partis esse
- to be neutral.
- hoc vocabulum generis neutri (not neutrius) est)
- this word is neuter.
neuter, tra, trum (
I. gen. neutri, Varr. L. L. 9, § 62, acc. to the MSS.; cf. §§ 55 and 58; Aus. Ep. 50;
and by grammarians always in the phrase neutri generis, of the neuter gender, Charis. 13 P.; Diom. 277 P. al.; Serv. Verg. A. 1, 449; dat. sing. neutrae, acc. to Prisc. p. 678.—Collat. form, NECVTER, Inscr. Orell. 4859), adj. ne-uter, neither the one nor the other, neither of two: ut neutri illorum quisquam esset me carior, Cic. Att. 7, 1, 2: in neutram partem moveri, id. Ac. 2, 42, 130; id. Off. 2, 6, 20: debemus neutrum eorum contra alium juvare, Caes. B. C. 1, 35, 5: quid bonum sit, quid malum, quid neutrum, Cic. Div. 2, 4, 10; Ov. M. 4, 378: ita fiet ut neutra lingua alteri officiat, Quint. 1, 1, 14.—Repeated: neuter neutri invidet, Plaut. Stich. 5, 4, 49.—With verb in plur.: ut caveres, neuter ad me iretis cum querimoniā, Plaut. Men. 5, 2, 34: quia neuter consulum potuerant bello abesse, Liv. 9, 44, 2.—(b). In plur.:
in quo neutrorum contemnenda est sententia, Cic. Off. 1, 21, 70: neutri alteros primo cernebant, Liv. 21, 46, 4: ita neutris cura posteritatis, Tac. H. 1, 1: in neutris partibus esse, Sen. Ira, 2, 23: neutris quicquam hostile facientibus, Just. 6, 7, 1.—II. In partic., in gram.: neutra nomina, of the neuter gender:
neutra (nomina or verba), which are neither active nor passive, middle, Cic. Tusc. 4, 12, 28; id. Or. 46, 155; Gell. 1, 7, 15 et saep. —Hence, A. Adv.: † neutrē, neutrally; in neither way: neutre, οὐδετέρως, Gloss. Philox.—
B. neutrō, adv., to neither one side nor the other; to neither side, neither way:
neutro inclinatā spe, Liv. 5, 26 fin.: neutro inclinaverat fortuna, Tac. H. 3, 23: si neutro litis condicio praeponderet, Quint. 7, 2, 39.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
neuter tra, trum, gen. trīus, dat. trī, adj. pronom.
ne+uter, neither the one nor the other, neither : neutri illorum quisquam me carior: neutrum eorum contra alium iuvare, Cs.: quid bonum sit, quid malum, quid neutrum: neuter consulum, L.: ubi neutri transeundi initium faciunt, neither army , Cs.: neutri alteros primo cernebant, L.— Plur n . as subst: neutra (sc. nomina), of the neuter gender : in bonis rebus . . . in malis . . . in neutris, neither good nor evil .
Origins
Proto-Indo-European *néder. Proto-Indo-European *méh₁ Proto-Indo-European *néh₁der. Proto-Italic *nē Archaic Latin nei Latin ne Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- Proto-Indo-European *kʷos Proto-Indo-European *-teros Proto-Indo-European *kʷóteros Proto-Italic *kʷoteros Latin uter Latin neuter From ne (“not”) + uter (“either”). In the grammatical sense, a semantic loan from Koine Greek οὐδέτερος (oudéteros), from οὐδέ (oudé, “not”) + ἕτερος (héteros, “one or the other (of two)”).
Descendants
- Catalanneutre
- Frenchneutre
- Italianneutro
- Occitanneutre
- Portugueseneutro
- Romanianneutru
- Spanishneutro
- Friulianneutri
- Galicianneutro
- Piedmontesenèutr
In English words that came into English from neuter
- neuterneuter
- neutralneutrālis
- neutroisneuter