LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinethird declension

opifex

opifex m or f (genitive opificis)
Classical[ˈɔ.pɪ.fɛks]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔː.pi.feks]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. femininemasculineSomeone who does work (especially creative or constructive); worker, maker, framer, fabricator, workman, mechanic, artificer, craftsman, inventor, artist, artisan.

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī opus manibus facit.
opifex -icis m — in Mille Verba, Artēs et Litterae

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Faber · Opifex · Artifex

Fabri (from favere, fovere,) are such workmen as labor with exertion of bodily strength, carpenters and smiths, χειρώνακτες; opifices such as need mechanical skill and industry, βάναυσοι; artifices such as employ mind and invention in their mechanical functions, τεχνῖται. (v. 329.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeopifexopificēs
genitiveopificisopificum
dativeopificīopificibus
accusativeopificemopificēs
ablativeopificeopificibus
vocativeopifexopificēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

deus est mundi procreator (not creator), aedificator, fabricator, opifex rerum
God is the Creator of the world.

ŏpĭfex, ĭcis, comm. opus-facio, one who does a work.
I. Lit., a worker, maker, framer, fabricator (class.; cf.: faber, artifex. operarius).
A. In gen.: opifex aedificatorque mundi deus, Cic. N. D. 1, 8, 18: rerum or aeternus, Col. 3, 10, 10; cf.: opifex natura, Plin. 31, 1, 1, § 1: calor, Lact. 2, 9, 22: sylvestres apes, Varr. R. R. 3, 16.—
B. In partic., a workman, mechanic, artist, artisan, etc.: opifices omnes in sordidā arte versantur, Cic. Off. 1, 42, 150; cf. id. N. D. 2, 60, 150; id. Fl. 8, 18; id. Rep. 1, 22, 35: opifices atque servitia, Sall. C. 50, 1: hoc (instrumento) ego non artem credo egere, sed artificem, Quint. 2, 21, 24.—
II. Trop.: verborum, Cic. Tusc. 5, 12, 34: dicens esse rhetoricen persuadendi opificem, id est πειθοῦς δημιουργόν, Quint. 2, 15, 4.— Poet. with inf.: mire opifex ... marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae, Pers. 6, 3.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep-der. Proto-Italic *opis Latin ops Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *-faks Latin -fex Latin opifex From ops (“resources, wealth”) + -fex (“suffix representing a maker or producer”).

Descendants
  • Englishopificer
  • Italianopifice
  • TranslingualOpifex

In English words that came into English from opifex

  • officeofficium
  • officinaofficīna
  • opificeropifex

Quick answers

What does opifex mean in Latin?
opifex, a noun, means “Someone who does work (especially creative or constructive); worker, maker, framer, fabricator, workman, mechanic, artificer, craftsman, inventor, artist, artisan.”.
What is the genitive of opifex?
The genitive singular is opificis. opifex is masculine, third declension.
How do you pronounce opifex?
In classical Latin, [ˈɔ.pɪ.fɛks]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈɔː.pi.feks].
Which English words come from opifex?
English words that go back to Latin opifex include opificer, officina and office.