English

Noun

adytum ‎(plural adytums or adyta)

1. The innermost sanctuary or shrine in ancient temples, whence oracles were given.
2. (by extension) A private chamber; a sanctum.

Translations

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.dy.tum/, [ˈa.dʏ.tũ]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.di.tum/, [ˈaː.di.tum]

Etymology 1

From the Ancient Greek ἄδῠτον ‎(áduton, “innermost sanctuary”, “shrine”), a substantivisation of the neuter forms of the adjective ἄδῠτος ‎(ádutos, “not to be entered”).

Alternative forms

• adytus (masculine fourth-declension collateral form)

Noun

adytum n ‎(genitive adytī); second declension

1. (literally) shrine, Holy of Holies (the innermost or most secret part of a temple or other sacred place; the sanctuary, which none but priests could enter, and from which oracles were delivered)
2. (more generally) a secret place or chamber
3. (transferred sense, of the dead) a grave, tomb, or mausoleum

   ab imīs adytīs‎

   from the innermost chambers [of a tomb]

4. (figuratively) the inmost recesses

   ex adytō tamquam cordis respōnsa dēdere‎

   to yield answers as if from the inmost recesses of the soul

Declension

Second declension.

Synonyms

• sānctum sānctōrum

Descendants

• English: adytum
• Portuguese: ádito

References

• ădytum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• adytum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ADYTUM in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “ădy̆tum”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 69/3.
• adytum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• adytum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Etymology 2

See adytus.

Noun

adytum m

1. accusative singular of adytus