English

Proper noun

Claudius

1. A male given name.
   • 1611, Bible (KJV), Acts 24:25-26:

     And he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

2. The Roman emperor "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus"

Related terms

• Claud
• Claude
• Claudia
• Claudian

Latin

Etymology

Traditionally said to be from claudus ‎(“lame”), however, family history relates that the name was adopted as the Romanized from of an earlier Clausus, the Latin spelling of an original Sabine name. A Sabine word cognate with clausus ‎(“shut, closed”), perfect passive participle of claudō ‎(“I shut, close”) seems a more probable origin.

Proper noun

Claudius m ‎(genitive Claudiī); second declension

1. A Roman gens name.

Inflection

Second declension.

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• Claudia

Descendants

• English: Claude
• French: Claude
• Italian: Claudio
• Portuguese: Cláudio
• Romanian: Claudiu
• Spanish: Claudio

References

• Claudius in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “Claudius”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.