LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

plautus1

plautus (feminine plauta, neuter plautum)
Classical[ˈpɫau̯.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈplaːu̯.tus]

Meaning

  1. adjectiveflat-footed, having broad flat feet
    Plōtōs appellant Umbrī pedibus plānīs nātōs . . . unde et Maccius poēta, quia Umber Sarsinās erat, a pedum plānitiē initiō Plōtus, posteā Plautus coeptus est dīcī.By the word plōtus the Umbrians call those born with flat feet . . . hence also the poet Maccius, being an Umbrian from Sarsinae and having flat feet, was at first called Plōtus, and then Plautus.1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 238:
  2. adjectiveflap-eared, having wide or large flat ears

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeplautusplautaplautum
genitiveplautīplautaeplautī
dativeplautōplautaeplautō
accusativeplautumplautamplautum
ablativeplautōplautāplautō
vocativeplauteplautaplautum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeplautīplautaeplauta
genitiveplautōrumplautārumplautōrum
dativeplautīsplautīsplautīs
accusativeplautōsplautāsplauta
ablativeplautīsplautīsplautīs
vocativeplautīplautaeplauta

plautus (plōt-), a, um, adj.
I. Flat, broad: plauti appellantur canes, quorum aures languidae sunt ac flaccidae et latius videntur patere, Paul. ex Fest. p. 231 Müll.: conchae plautiores, Tert. Pall. 3.—
II. Among the Umbrians, flat-footed: (plotos appellant) Umbri pedibus planis (natos . . . unde et Maccius) poëta, quia Umber Sarsinas erat, a pedum planitie initio Plotus, postea Plautus coeptus est dici, Fest. p. 238 Müll.; cf. Paul. ex Fest. p. 239 ib.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *plautos (whence Oscan 𐌐𐌋𐌀𐌅𐌕𐌀𐌃 sg (plavtad, “sole of the foot or of a shoe”, abl.), Umbrian preplotatu, preplohotatu (“cruch, stamp down”, 3sg.ipv.II.)), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂-u-tós, from *pleh₂- (“flat”). Related to plaudō (“to strike, clap”).

Italo-Romance
  • Italianchiotto
  • Italianciotto
  • Italianpiota
Gallo-Italic
  • Piedmontesepiòta
Gallo-Romance
  • Franco-Provençalpllôta
proper noun · masculinesecond declension
Plautus2
Plautus m sg (genitive Plautī)
Classical[ˈpɫau̯.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈplaːu̯.tus]

Meaning

  1. masculinesingularPlautus, a famous Roman comic playwright
    Postquam est mortem aptus Plautus, Comoedia luget...Since deft Plautus is dead, Comedy grieves...
  2. masculinesingulara cognomen used by the gentes Bellia, Rubellia, Sergia, and others
    Gaius Rubellius Plautus

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativePlautus—
genitivePlautī—
dativePlautō—
accusativePlautum—
ablativePlautō—
vocativePlaute—

Plautus, i, m. flat-foot, v. 1. plautus,
I. an Umbrian surname.—So, T. Maccius (or Maccus) Plautus, a celebrated Roman comic poet, a native of the Umbrian village Sarsina.—(On the name Maccius, instead of the earlier reading Accius or Attius, v. Ritschl, De Plauti poëtae nominibus, in his Parergon Plautinorum I. pp. 3-43; and respecting his life and writings, id. ib. pp. 47 - 579), Cic. Brut. 15, 60; Quint. 10, 1, 99.—
B. Transf., the works of Plautus, a comedy of Plautus: adporto vobis Plautum linguā non manu, Plaut. Men. prol. 3.—Hence,
II. Plautīnus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Plautus, Plautian: pater, i. e. a father in a play of Plautus, Cic. Ep. ad Brut. 2, 2 fin.: numeri et sales, Hor. A. P. 270: sermo, Quint. 10, 1, 99: stilus, Gell. 3, 3, 13: prosapia, i. e. poor, mean, because Plautus was said to have worked in a mill, Min. Fel. Octav. 14.—Sup.: versus Plautinissimi, most Plautus-like, altogether in Plautus's manner, Gell. 3, 3, 4.

Origins

From plautus (“flat-footed; flap-eared”). In the case of the comic playwright Titus Maccius Plautus, sometimes said to be a personal agnomen from Umbrian dialect plōtus and sometimes self-styled as a stage name.

Descendants
  • EnglishPlautus
  • ItalianPlauto

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

Biography & mythologyPlautusPlautus. the most celebrated comic poet of Rome, was a native of Sarsina, a small village in Umbria. Almost the only particulars, which we possess res…

Quick answers

What does plautus mean in Latin?
plautus, a adjective, means “flat-footed, having broad flat feet; flap-eared, having wide or large flat ears”.
How do you pronounce plautus?
In classical Latin, [ˈpɫau̯.tʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈplaːu̯.tus].