LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

senectūs1

senectūs f (genitive senectūtis)
Classical[sɛˈnɛk.tuːs]Ecclesiastical[seˈnɛk.tus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. old age, senility
    Senectūs ipsa morbus est.Old age itself is a disease.161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Phormio 575
    Post molestam senectutem"After a troubling old age"1781, C. W. Kindleben, Gaudeamus igitur:

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ultima aetās vītae.
senectūs -ūtis f — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors
ultima aetās, aetās senum
senectūs -ūtis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, †
old age
senectūs — in Seneca, ch. XV

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Vetus · Senex · Grandævus · Longævus · Senecta · Senectus · Senium

1. Vetus homo (ἔτος) denotes an old man, from the fiftieth year of his life, in opp. to juvenis, a young man, like γέρων; whereas senex (ἄναξ? or ἕνους ἔχων?), an old man from his sixtieth year, with the accessory notion of his being worthy of respect, like πρεσβύτης; lastly, grandævus and longævus denote a very aged man, who has already exceeded the usual duration of life, and who is, consequently, somewhere about eighty or upwards. 2. Senecta denotes old age indifferently, merely as a period of life; senectus, as a venerable and experienced age, that commands respect and indulgence; senium, the infirm and burdensome age, which is to be looked upon as a disease. (iv. 89.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesenectūssenectūtēs
genitivesenectūtissenectūtum
dativesenectūtīsenectūtibus
accusativesenectūtemsenectūtēs
ablativesenectūtesenectūtibus
vocativesenectūssenectūtēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

senectus nobis obrēpit
old age creeps on us insensibly.
ad summam senectutem pervenire
to live to a very great age.
senectute, senio confectum esse
to be worn out by old age.

sĕnectūs, ūtis,f. senex.
I. Old age, extreme age, senility (freq. and class.; only in sing.): adulescentia (tua) senectuti dedecoramentum (fuit), senectus rei publicae flagitium, C. Gracch. ap. Isid. Orig. 2, 21, 4; cf.: quasi qui adulescentiam florem aetatis, senectutem occasum vitae velit definire, Cic. Top. 7, 32: ut in Catone Majore, qui est scriptus ad te de senectute ... ut tum ad senem senex de senectute, sic, etc., id. Lael. 1, 4 sq.; cf. id. Sen. 1 sqq.: T. Aufidius, qui vixit ad summam senectutem, id. Brut. 48, 179: cum esset summā senectute et perditā valetudine, id. Phil. 8, 10, 31: confecti homines senectute, id. Fin. 5, 11, 33: ted optestor per senectutem tuam, Plaut. As. 1, 1, 3: ibi fovebo senectutem meam, id. Stich. 4, 1, 62; Ter. And. 5, 3, 16; id. Ad. 5, 3, 47; id. Hec. 1, 2, 44 al.; Caecil. ap. Cic. Sen. 8, 25; Lucr. 1, 414; Cic. Rep. 1, 3, 4; 5, 8, 10; id. Fin. 5, 11, 32; id. de Or. 1, 60, 255 et saep.; Cat. 108, 1; Tib. 2, 2, 19; Verg. G. 3, 67; id. A. 5, 416; 6, 304; 7, 440; Ov. M. 14, 143; Luc. 1, 343; 2, 128; Stat. S. 3, 3, 156; Tac. A. 1, 4; 6, 31; 12, 40; 14, 40: dum virent genua, Et decet, obductā solvatur fronte senectus, the moroseness of old age, Hor. Epod. 13, 5; cf.: quae vos tam foeda senectus corripuit, fregitque animos? Val. Fl. 6, 283.—Of style; only trop., and hence with quasi: cum ipsa oratio jam nostra canesceret haberetque suam quandam maturitatem et quasi senectutem, Cic. Brut. 2, 8: plena litteratae senectutis oratio, id. ib. 76, 265.—Of inanim. things (for vetustas; only poet. and very rare): vos (tabellae) cariosa senectus Rodat, Ov. Am. 1, 12, 29: vini veteris, Juv. 5, 34; 13, 214.— Prov.: aquilae senectus, v. aquila.—
II. Transf.
1. Personified, the goddess of old age, Old Age: tristis Senectus, Verg. A. 6, 275.—
2. Old age, i. e. old men: senectus semper agens aliquid, Cic. Sen. 8, 26; cf. id. ib. 14, 48; cf.: aequari adulescentes senectae suae impatienter indoluit, Tac. A. 4, 17.—
3. Gray hairs: temporibus geminis canebat sparsa senectus, Verg. A. 5, 416. —
4. The old skin, slough, cast off yearly by serpents and other animals: Theophrastus auctor est, anguis modo et stelliones senectutem exuere eamque protinus devorare, Plin. 8, 31, 49, § 111; 9, 30, 50, § 95; 30, 7, 19, § 57; 30, 9, 23, § 81; cf. senecta, supra, II. B.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *sénosder. Proto-Italic *senos Proto-Italic *seneks Latin senex Proto-Indo-European *-tuHts Latin -tūs Latin senectūs From senex (“old”) + -tūs (abstract noun-forming suffix).

Descendants
  • Italiansenettù
  • Italiansenettute
  • Spanishsenectud
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective
senectus2
senectus (feminine senecta, neuter senectum)
Classical[sɛˈnɛk.tʊs]Ecclesiastical[seˈnɛk.tus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectiveaged, very old

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Vetus · Senex · Grandævus · Longævus · Senecta · Senectus · Senium

1. Vetus homo (ἔτος) denotes an old man, from the fiftieth year of his life, in opp. to juvenis, a young man, like γέρων; whereas senex (ἄναξ? or ἕνους ἔχων?), an old man from his sixtieth year, with the accessory notion of his being worthy of respect, like πρεσβύτης; lastly, grandævus and longævus denote a very aged man, who has already exceeded the usual duration of life, and who is, consequently, somewhere about eighty or upwards. 2. Senecta denotes old age indifferently, merely as a period of life; senectus, as a venerable and experienced age, that commands respect and indulgence; senium, the infirm and burdensome age, which is to be looked upon as a disease. (iv. 89.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativesenectussenectasenectum
genitivesenectīsenectaesenectī
dativesenectōsenectaesenectō
accusativesenectumsenectamsenectum
ablativesenectōsenectāsenectō
vocativesenectesenectasenectum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativesenectīsenectaesenecta
genitivesenectōrumsenectārumsenectōrum
dativesenectīssenectīssenectīs
accusativesenectōssenectāssenecta
ablativesenectīssenectīssenectīs
vocativesenectīsenectaesenecta

sĕnectus, a, um, adj. senex,
I. aged, very old.
I. Adj. (rare, and mostly anteclass.): senecta aetas, Plaut. Am. 4, 2, 12; id. Trin. 1, 2, 5; id. Aul. 2, 2, 75; id. Cas. 2, 3, 23; 2, 3, 41; id. Merc. 5, 4, 25; Lucr. 5, 886; 5, 896; Sall. Fragm. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 11, 165: membris exire senectis, Lucr. 3, 772: corpus, Sall. ap. Prisc. p. 869 (H. 4, 63 Dietsch): aetas, id. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 11, 165 (H. inc. lib. 115 Dietsch).—
II. Subst.: sĕ-necta, ae, f., old age, extreme age, senility (freq., though mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose; not in Cic.; cf. 2. senectus).
A. In abstr.: prospiciendum ergo in senectā: nunc adulescentia est, Lucil. ap. Non. 492, 23; Enn. ap. Cic. Or. 55, 184 (Trag. v. 393 Vahl.; v. Vahl. N. cr. ad h. 1.); Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 60 (opp. aetatula); id. Trin. 2, 3, 7; id. Mil. 3, 1, 29; * Ter. Ad. 5, 8, 31; Caecil. ap. Cic. Sen. 8, 25; Lucr. 4, 1256; Liv. 2, 40, 6; 6, 8, 2; 24, 4, 2; 28, 16, 12; 38, 53, 9; Cat. 64, 217; Tib. 1, 4, 31; 1, 8, 42; 1, 10, 40 al.; Prop. 1, 19, 17; 2, 13 (3, 5), 47; 3, 5 (4, 4), 24; 3, 19 (4, 18), 15; Verg. G. 1, 186; 3, 96; id. A. 6, 114 al.; Hor. C. 1, 31, 19; 2, 6, 6; 2, 14, 3; id. Ep. 2, 2, 211; Ov. M. 3, 347; 6, 37; 6, 500; 6, 675 et saep. al.: in senectā, Varr. L. L. 5, § 5 Müll.; so in prose, Petr. 132, 10; Plin. 7, 50, 51, § 167; 8, 32, 50, § 116; 16, 27, 51, § 117 et saep.; Tac. A. 3, 23; 3, 55; 4, 41; 4, 58 fin.; 13, 33; 14, 65 al.; Suet. Aug. 79; id. Ner. 40; id. Galb. 4, 17; id. Gram. 11; Vulg. Psa. 70, 18 al.—
B. In the elder Pliny, concr. ( = 2. senectus, II.), the old skin, slough of a serpent, cast off annually: serpentes senectam exuendo, etc., Plin. 20, 23, 95, § 254; 28, 11, 48, § 174; 30, 8, 22, § 69.—
C. An old man, Sil. 8, 6; cf. id. 7, 178.

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Latin senectus From senex (“old”) + -tus (adjective-forming suffix).

Quick answers

What does senectūs mean in Latin?
senectūs, a noun, means “old age, senility”.
What is the genitive of senectūs?
The genitive singular is senectūtis. senectūs is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce senectūs?
In classical Latin, [sɛˈnɛk.tuːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [seˈnɛk.tus].