LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neuterthird declension

vīscus

vīscus n (genitive vīsceris)
Classical[ˈwiːs.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈvis.kus]

Meaning

  1. pluralorgan (any internal organ of the body)
  2. pluralentrails, viscera, bowels, internal organs
    terra fabās tantum dūraque farra dabat. quae duo mixta simul sextīs quīcumque Kalendīs ēderit, huic laedī vīscera posse negant. The land yielded only beans and hard far. Whoever, on the Kalends of the sixth [months], eats these two [foods] mixed together, they say no harm will [come] to this [person’s] bowels. (The first day of June was the Kalendae fabariae or Bean-Kalends.)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 6.180–182
  3. figurativelypluralthe innermost part of something, as the heart and vital organs are to the body
    Quodsī ex tantō latrōciniō iste ūnus tollētur, vidēbimur fortasse ad breve quoddam tempus cūrā et metū esse relevātī, perīculum autem residēbit et erit inclūsum penitus in vēnīs atque in vīsceribus reī pūblicae.But if that single individual is removed from such a great band of brigands, we shall perhaps seem to be relieved of our worry and fear for a certain short time, but the danger will remain and will be shut up deeply within the veins and in the bowels of the Republic.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.31

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quae intrā corpus sunt: cor, iecur, pulmōnēs.
vīscera -um n pl — in Mille Verba, Corpus Hūmānum
partēs intimae corporis
viscera -um (n pl) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 5, 13

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Caro · Pulpa · Viscera · Exta · Intestina · Ilia

1. Caro means flesh in its general sense, as a material substance, in opp. to fat, nerves, muscles, and so forth; pulpa, especially, eatable and savory flesh, in opp. to bones; viscera, all flesh, and every fleshy substance between the skin and the bones. 2. Viscera, in a narrower sense, means generally, the inner parts of the body; whereas exta means the inner parts of the upper part of the body, as the heart, lungs, and so forth; intestina, interanea, and ilia, the inner parts of the lower part of the body, namely, the entrails; and indeed intestina, and, in the age after Augustus, interanea, meant the guts as digestive organs; ilia, all that is contained in the lower part of the body, and particularly those parts that are serviceable. (v. 145.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevīscusvīscera
genitivevīscerisvīscerum
dativevīscerīvīsceribus
accusativevīscusvīscera
ablativevīscerevīsceribus
vocativevīscusvīscera

viscus, ĕris, and more freq. in the plur.: viscĕra, um, n. prop. the soft parts; cf.: viscum, viscidus,
I. the inner parts of the animal body, the internal organs, the inwards, viscera (the nobler parts, the heart, lungs, liver, as well as the ignobler, the stomach, entrails, etc.; cf.: ilia, intestina, exta).
(a). Sing.: mortui praecordia et viscus omne, Cels. praef. med.; Lucr. 1, 837; 3, 719; Tib. 1, 3, 76; Ov. M. 6, 290; 15, 365; Luc. 3, 658; Quint. Decl. 1, 14; Nemes. Cyn. 139.—
(b). Plur. (only so in class. prose), Cels. 4, 11; 7, 9, 2; Lucr. 2, 669; 3, 249; 3, 375 al.; Ov. M. 7, 601; 8, 846; 12, 390; 15, 314; id. F. 4, 205 al.—Of the uterus, Quint. 10, 3, 4; Dig. 48, 8, 8.—Of the testicles, Petr. 119; Plin. 20, 13, 51, § 142.—
B. Transf.
1. The flesh, as lying under the skin: cum Herculi Dejanira sanguine Centauri tinctam tunicam induisset, inhaesissetque ea visceribus, Cic. Tusc. 2, 8, 20: ut multus e visceribus sanguis exeat, Poët. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 14, 34: heu quantum scelus est, in viscera viscera condi! Ov. M. 15, 88: boum, Cic. N. D. 2, 63, 159: taurorum, Verg. A. 6, 253; 8, 180.—
2. The fruit of the womb, offspring, child (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): (Tereus) in suam sua viscera congerit alvum, Ov. M. 6, 651; 8, 478; 10, 465; id. H. 11, 118; cf. Curt. 4, 14, 22: viscera sua flammis inicere, i. e. one's own writings, Quint. 6, praef. § 3 Spald.—
II. Trop., like our bowels, for the interior, inward or inmost part: itum est in viscera terrae, Ov. M. 1, 138: montis (Aetnae), Verg. A. 3, 575: in medullis populi Romani ac visceribus haerebant, Cic. Phil. 1, 15, 36: in venis atque in visceribus rei publicae, id. Cat. 1, 13, 31; cf. id. Tusc. 4, 11, 24: haec in dicendo non extrinsecus alicunde quaerenda, sed ex ipsis visceribus causae sumenda sunt, id. de Or. 2, 78, 318: quae (ἐγκελεύσματα) mihi in visceribus haerent, id. Att. 6, 1, 8: neu patriae validas in viscera vertite vires, i. e. her own citizens, Verg. A. 6, 833: de visceribus tuis, i. e. from your means, property, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 3, 7; so, aerarii, id. Dom. 47 fin.: magnarum domuum, the heart, i. e. the favorite, Juv. 3, 72.
viscus, i, v. viscum
I. init.

Origins

Of unclear origin; possibly Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to turn, rotate”). Compare typologically vulva < Proto-Indo-European *welH-, whence also volvō and many others.

Descendants
  • Englishviscus
  • Englishviscera
  • Frenchviscèrefrom Middle French vixere
  • Romanianviscerefrom Middle French vixere
  • Italianviscere
  • Portuguesevíscera
  • Spanishvíscera

In English words that came into English from vīscus

  • visceralviscerālis
  • eviscerateēviscerātus
  • viscusvīscus

Quick answers

What does vīscus mean in Latin?
vīscus, a noun, means “organ (any internal organ of the body); entrails, viscera, bowels, internal organs; the innermost part of something, as the heart and vital organs are to the body”.
What is the genitive of vīscus?
The genitive singular is vīsceris. vīscus is neuter, third declension.
How do you pronounce vīscus?
In classical Latin, [ˈwiːs.kʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvis.kus].
Which English words come from vīscus?
English words that go back to Latin vīscus include viscus, visceral and eviscerate.