LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

simulācrum

simulācrum n (genitive simulācrī)
Classical[sɪ.mʊˈɫaː.krũː]Ecclesiastical[si.muˈlaː.krum]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. image, likeness, statue, effigy, portrait
    Dūcendum ad sēdēs simulācrum ōrandaque dīvae / nūmina conclāmant.“[The Trojans] cried out: ‘The effigy [of the horse] must be taken to the temple of the goddess, and [we] must entreat her divine favor.’”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.232–233
    Aliī dīcunt Orestem, cum Diānae Facelītidis simulācrum raptum ex Scythiā adveheret et ad Siciliam esset tempestāte dēlātus, complētō annō Diānae fēstum celebrāsse hymnīs, collēctīs nautīs suīs et aliquibus pāstōribus convocātīs, et exinde permānsisse apud rūsticōs cōnsuētūdinem.Others say that Orestes, when he was taking the figure of Taurian Diana from Scythia and was carried off to Sicily by a storm, he venerated her an entire year with hymns, with his sailors collected and some shepherds summoned, and that from there did the custom remain among the country-dwellers.Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii Bucolica commentarii
  2. specter, ghost, phantom; mimicry, imitation

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

imāgō deī ex marmore vel aere; in templō stat.
simulācrum -ī n — in Mille Verba, Deī et Sacra
imāgō deī, statua
simulācrum -ī (n) — in Epistulae, ch. 21
imāgō, fōrma reī
simulācrum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 5, 8, 19

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Imago · Simulacrum · Statua · Signum

1. Imago and simulacrum denote, as the most general terms, any representation, whether a work of statuary or of painting; imago (μηχανή) is allied to the original, as to a pattern, by a striking likeness of form, like εἰκών; simulacrum is opposed to the original, as a real being, by a deceptive imitation of its form, like εἴδωλον; whereas statua, signum, and effigies, are merely plastic works; tabula and pictura, merely pictures. 2. Simulacrum and statua denote the copying of the whole figure, consequently, in the plastic art, standing figures; effigies and imago, principally the copying of the characteristic parts, namely, the features; effigies, in statuary, as busts; imago, in painting, as half-length portraits. Tac. Ann. i. 74. Alia in statua amputato capite Augusti effigiem Tiberii inditam. Hist. ii. 3. Simulacrum deæ effigie humana. Cic. Tusc. iii. 2, 3. Optimus quisque consectatur nullam eminentem effigiem (virtutis) sed adumbratam imaginem gloriæ. Signum (from sequo, to proclaim,) means any plastic work, in opp. to tabulæ and picturæ. Sal. Cat. 11. Cic. Orat. i. 35. Man. 14. Suet. Cæs. 47. Quintil. ix. 2. Cic. Verr. iv. 1; simulacrum means the sacred statue of a god, like ἄγαλμα; statua, the profane statue of a man, like ἀνδριάς. Cic. Cat. iii. 8. Simulacra deorum immortalium depulsa sunt et statuæ veterum hominum dejectæ. Tac. Ann. i. 73. Suet. Tib. 26. Cic. Verr. i. 22. Legati deorum simulacra venerabantur, itemque cætera signa et ornamenta lacrimantes intuebantur. (v. 237.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativesimulācrum
simulāchrum
simulācra
simulāchra
genitivesimulācrī
simulāchrī
simulācrōrum
simulāchrōrum
dativesimulācrō
simulāchrō
simulācrīs
simulāchrīs
accusativesimulācrum
simulāchrum
simulācra
simulāchra
ablativesimulācrō
simulāchrō
simulācrīs
simulāchrīs
vocativesimulācrum
simulāchrum
simulācra
simulāchra

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

simulacrum e marmore facere
to make a marble statue.

sĭmŭlācrum, i, n. simulo, an image formed in the likeness of a thing,
I. a likeness, image, form, representation, semblance (class.; syn.: imago, effigies, signum).
I. Lit., of images formed by art, reflected in a mirror, or seen in a dream; of apparitions, visions, etc. (the latter mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
A. Of images formed by art, esp. of statues of the gods, an image, figure, portrait, effigy, statue, etc.: alicujus effigiem simulacrumque servare, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 65, § 159; cf.: statuas et imagines, non animorum simulacra sed corporum ... relinquere, id. Arch. 12, 30: Helenae se pingere simulacrum velle dixit (Zeuxis), id. Inv. 2, 1, 1; cf. id. Fam. 5, 12, 7: delubra magnifica humanis consecrata simulacris, id. Rep. 3, 9, 14; but cf.: simulacrum deae non effigie humanā, Tac. H. 2, 3: deorum simulacra sanctissima, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 1, 3; so of the images of the gods, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 72, § 185; Caes. B. G. 6, 16; 6, 17; id. B. C. 2, 5; 3, 105; Tac. H. 2, 3; id. A. 12, 22 al.: tueri aras simulacraque divom, Lucr. 5, 75; 5, 308: et bene facta deum frangit simulacra, id. 6, 419; Verg. A. 2, 172; Ov. M. 10, 694; 15, 658 al.; cf.: Herculis simulacrum, Liv. 9, 44 fin.: simulacra oppidorum, Cic. Pis. 25, 60; cf. pugnarum, Liv. 41, 28, 10: Balbum in triumpho omnium gentium urbiumque nomina ac simulacra duxisse, Plin. 5, 5, 5, § 36; cf. also: simulacrum celebrati diei pingere, Liv. 24, 16 fin.: montium, fluviorum, Tac. A. 2, 41.— Poet., of the Trojan horse, Verg. A. 2, 232 (for which, effigies, id. ib. 2, 184).—
b. Adverb.: ad or per simulacrum (like ad similitudinem, formam), in the form of, after the pattern of: aurata aedes ad simulacrum templi Veneris collocata, Suet. Caes. 84: ad simulacrum ignium ardens Pharus, id. Flor. 4, 2, 88; cf.: ad simulacrum caelestium siderum, id. ib. 1, 2, 3: digiti per litterarum simulacra ducuntur, Sen. Ep. 94, 51.—
B. An image, form, shade, phantom seen in a mirror, in a dream, etc.; analogous to the Gr. εἴδωλον: quaecunque apparent nobis simulacra, Lucr. 4, 99; cf.: per aquas, quae nunc rerum simulacra videmus, id. 1, 1060: quid frustra simulacra fugacia (in aquā visa) captas? Ov. M. 3, 432. —Of the shades or ghosts of the departed: quaedam simulacra modis pallentia miris, Lucr. 1, 123 (cf. Verg. G. 1, 477 infra); cf.: est via declivis (in Tartarum) ... umbrae recentes Descendunt illac simulacraque functa sepulcris, Ov. M. 4, 435; so id. ib. 10, 14: simulacra cara parentis, id. ib. 14, 112; cf. Verg. A. 2, 772: ut bibere in somnis sitiens cum quaerit ... laticum simulacra petit, etc., Lucr. 4, 1099; cf.: (canes) Expergefacti secuntur inania saepe Cervorum simulacra, id. 4, 995: simulacra inania somni, Ov. H. 9, 39: vana (noctis), id. Am. 1, 6, 9: simulacra modis pallentia miris Visa sub obscurum noctis, Verg. G. 1, 477; Sil. 3, 650 al.; cf.: ne vacua mens audita simulacra et inanes sibi metus fingeret, Plin. Ep. 7, 27, 7.—
2. In the philosoph. lang. of Lucret. (like the Gr. εἴδωλον and the Lat. spectrum), the form or image of an object of sense or thought presented to the mind; a representation, idea, conception, Lucr. 2, 112; 4, 130; 4, 149 sq.—
3. Of mnemonic signs, types, or emblems: ut res ipsas rerum effigies notaret atque ut locis pro cerā, simulacris pro litteris uteremur, Cic. de Or. 2, 86, 354.—
4. A description, a portraiture of character: non inseram simulacrum viri copiosi (Catonis), quae dixerit referendo, Liv. 45, 25.—
5. A likeness or similitude: diu disputavi, Hominem quojus rei Similem esse arbitrarer simulacrumque habere: Id repperi jam exemplum, etc., Plaut. Most. 1, 2, 6.—
II. In partic., with the predominant idea of mere imitation (opp. to that which is original or real), a shadow, semblance, appearance, etc.: simulacrum aliquod ac vestigium civitatis, Cic. Fam. 10, 1, 1; cf.: simulacra virtutis, id. Off. 1, 15, 46; and: haec simulacra sunt auspiciorum, auspicia nullo modo, id. Div. 2, 33, 71: libertatis, Tac. A. 1, 77: belli simulacra cientes, i.e. mock-fights, sham-fights, Lucr. 2, 41; 2, 324: pugnaeque cient simulacra sub armis, Verg. A. 5, 585; 5, 674; Sil. 16, 529; 7, 119; cf.: simulacrum navalis pugnae, Liv. 26, 51, 6; 35, 26, 2: quibusdam pugnae simulacris ad verum discrimen aciemque justam consuescimus, Quint. 2, 10, 8; so, ludicrum pugnae, Liv. 40, 9: decurrentis exercitūs, id. 44, 9: vindemiae, Tac. A. 11, 31: civilitatis particulae, Quint. 2, 15, 25: inania, id. 10, 5, 17.

Origins

From simulā(re) + -crum (a variant of -culum, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *-tlom, a suffix forming instrument nouns).

Descendants
  • Englishsimulacrum
  • Frenchsimulacre
  • Spanishsimulacro

Quick answers

What does simulācrum mean in Latin?
simulācrum, a noun, means “image, likeness, statue, effigy, portrait; specter, ghost, phantom; mimicry, imitation”.
What is the genitive of simulācrum?
The genitive singular is simulācrī. simulācrum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce simulācrum?
In classical Latin, [sɪ.mʊˈɫaː.krũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [si.muˈlaː.krum].