LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
proper noun · femininefirst declension

Parca

Parca f (genitive Parcae)
Classical[ˈpar.ka]Ecclesiastical[ˈpar.ka]

Meaning

  1. feminineany one of the Fates (the three goddesses who control destiny)
    hinc populum, lātē rēgem bellōque superbum,Because these people, wide-ruling and proud in war, would come to destroy Libya: The Fates [were] thus to spin. (Rome would defeat Carthage in Libya; the Fates spun, measured and cut the metaphorical threads of life. See: Parcae. Notes: regem is an abbreviation of present active participle regentem or regnantem, “ruling”; bello is an ablative of respect, “in respect to war”; excidio is a dative of purpose, “for the destruction.” The grammar and idiom of sic volvere Parcas is variously interpreted, e.g.: “thus the Fates were spinning,” “the Fates had so decreed.”)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.21–22

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeParcaParcae
genitiveParcaeParcārum
dativeParcaeParcīs
accusativeParcamParcās
ablativeParcāParcīs
vocativeParcaParcae

Parca, ae, f. root πλεκ-; cf. πλέκω, πλοκή; Lat. plecto, plico,
I. one of the goddesses of Fate, whose Latin names are Nona, Decuma, and Morta, Caesell. Vindex ap. Gell. 3, 16, 11 (their Greek names are Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, Hyg. Fab. 171).—In sing.: Parca non mendax, Hor. C. 2, 16, 39: tenax veri, Pers. 5, 48: dura, Ov. P. 4, 15, 36.—Plur., the Fates: Parcae, Hesperides, etc.: quos omnes Erebo et Nocte natos ferunt, Cic. N. D. 3, 17, 44: Parcae fatalia nentes Stamina non ulli dissoluenda deo, Tib. 1, 7, 1: immites, Prop. 4 (5), 11, 13. iniquae, Hor. C. 2, 6, 9: veraces, id. C. S. 25: sic placitum Parcis, id. C. 2, 17, 16; Lact. 2, 10, 20; Verg. E. 4, 47; Juv. 12, 64.

Origins

Suggestions include: * parcō (“to spare”) * pariō (“to give birth”) * plicō, plectō (“to plait”)

Descendants
  • FrenchParque
  • ItalianParca

Quick answers

What does Parca mean in Latin?
Parca, a proper noun, means “any one of the Fates (the three goddesses who control destiny)”.
What is the genitive of Parca?
The genitive singular is Parcae. Parca is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce Parca?
In classical Latin, [ˈpar.ka]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈpar.ka].