Latin

Noun

pecus f ‎(genitive pecudis); third declension

1. sheep
2. cattle
   • 100 BCE – 44 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.6

     Caesar partitis copiis cum Gaio Fabio legato et Marco Crasso quaestore celeriterque effectis pontibus adit tripertito, aedificia vicosque incendit, magno pecoris atque hominum numero potitur.

     Caesar, having divided his forces with C. Fabius, his lieutenant, and M. Crassus his questor, and having hastily constructed some bridges, enters their country in three divisions, burns their houses and villages, and gets possession of a large number of cattle and men.

3. livestock
   • 29 bc. Vergil. Georgics, III

     omne adeo genvs in terris hominvmqve ferarvmqve
     et genvs æqvorevm pecvdes pictæqve volvcres
     in fvrias ignemqve rvvnt

     So far does every species on earth of man and beast,
     whether the aquatic species, livestock, or painted-winged,
     collapse into the frenzies and the fire [of sex].

Inflection

Third declension.

Related terms

• pecu
• pecuarius

Noun

pecus n ‎(genitive pecoris); third declension

1. cattle (collectively)
2. herd

Inflection

Third declension neuter.

Derived terms

• pecorārius

Descendants

Noun

pecūs

1. genitive singular of pecū

References

• pecus1 in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pecus2 in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pecus3 in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pecus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• PECUS in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “pecus”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to flee like deer, sheep: pecorum modo fugere (Liv. 40. 27)