LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

vorāgō

vorāgō f (genitive vorāginis)
Classical[wɔˈraː.ɡoː]Ecclesiastical[voˈraː.ɡo]

Meaning

  1. abyss, chasm, whirlpool, deep hole, pit

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

locus profundus, quī omnia recipit nec implētur
vorāgō vorāginis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 17
gurges omnia dēvorāns
vorāgō -inis (f) — in Aeneis, ch. 8

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Vorago · Vortex · Gurges

Vorago (ὄρηχος) and the poetical word, of foreign origin, barathrum, denote an abyss in water, which may be either in a pool, pond, or sea; whereas vortex and gurges suppose water in motion; vortex moves in a horizontal direction, so that its water turns in a circle, and hinders whatever swims therein from escaping; gurges (from γοργός? or γύργαθος?), in a perpendicular direction, so that it drags down whatever comes into its eddy, into the depth below. Liv. xxviii. 30. Navis retro vortice intorta; compare with xxii. 6. Deficientibus animis hauriebantur gurgitibus. (v. 155.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevorāgōvorāginēs
genitivevorāginisvorāginum
dativevorāginīvorāginibus
accusativevorāginemvorāginēs
ablativevorāginevorāginibus
vocativevorāgōvorāginēs

vŏrāgo, ĭnis, f. voro,
I. an abyss, gulf, whirlpool, depth, chasm.
I. Lit., of watery depths: summersus equus voraginibus, Cic. Div. 1, 33, 73: vastāque voragine gurges Aestuat, Verg. A. 6, 296; Cat. 17, 26; Curt. 8, 14, 8: explicet se Cotta, si potest, ex hac voragine, Lact. 2, 8, 55.—Of a gulf or chasm in the earth, Liv. 7, 6, 1; Curt. 8, 14, 2.— Poet., of a devouring maw or stomach: ventris, Ov. M. 8, 843.—
II. Transf.: vos geminae voragines scopulique rei publicae, i. e. gulfs, Cic. Pis. 18, 41: gurges et vorago patrimonii, devourer, squanderer, spendthrift, id. Sest. 52, 111: vorago aut gurges vitiorum, abyss, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 9, § 23: avaritia, manifestae praedae avidissima vorago, abyss, gulf, Val. Max. 9, 4 init.

Origins

Synchronically vorō + -āgō. Diachronically, may be derived from vorāx, vorāc-, with the velar assimilated in oblique cases to the nasal suffix derived from Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂- (e.g. genitive *worāk-nes > *worāg-nes > vorāginis).

Descendants
  • Englishvorago
  • Italianvoragine
  • Spanishvorágine
  • Portuguesevoragem
  • Old Frenchvorage

Quick answers

What does vorāgō mean in Latin?
vorāgō, a noun, means “abyss, chasm, whirlpool, deep hole, pit”.
What is the genitive of vorāgō?
The genitive singular is vorāginis. vorāgō is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce vorāgō?
In classical Latin, [wɔˈraː.ɡoː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [voˈraː.ɡo].