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Definition 2025
amplexus
amplexus
English
Noun
amplexus (uncountable)
- A form of pseudocopulation, found chiefly in amphibians and horseshoe crabs, in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process.
Translations
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /amˈplek.sus/, [amˈpɫɛk.sʊs]
Etymology 1
Perfect active participle of amplector (“surround; grasp”).
Participle
amplexus m (feminine amplexa, neuter amplexum); first/second declension
Declension
First/second declension.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| nominative | amplexus | amplexa | amplexum | amplexī | amplexae | amplexa | |
| genitive | amplexī | amplexae | amplexī | amplexōrum | amplexārum | amplexōrum | |
| dative | amplexō | amplexō | amplexīs | ||||
| accusative | amplexum | amplexam | amplexum | amplexōs | amplexās | amplexa | |
| ablative | amplexō | amplexā | amplexō | amplexīs | |||
| vocative | amplexe | amplexa | amplexum | amplexī | amplexae | amplexa | |
Etymology 2
Noun
amplexus m (genitive amplexūs); fourth declension
Declension
Fourth declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | amplexus | amplexūs |
| genitive | amplexūs | amplexuum |
| dative | amplexuī | amplexibus |
| accusative | amplexum | amplexūs |
| ablative | amplexū | amplexibus |
| vocative | amplexus | amplexūs |
Descendants
- English: amplexus
References
- amplexus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- amplexus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “amplexus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.