Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Caduceus
Ca-du′ce-us
,Noun.
[L.
caduceum
, caduceus
; akin to Gr. [GREEK] a herald’s wand, fr. [GREEK] herald.] (Myth.)
The official staff or wand of Hermes or Mercury, the messenger of the gods. It was originally said to be a herald's staff of olive wood, but was afterwards fabled to have two serpents coiled about it, and two wings at the top.
Webster 1828 Edition
Caduceus
CADUCEUS
,Noun.
Definition 2024
caduceus
caduceus
English
A caduceus
Noun
caduceus (plural caducei)
- The official wand carried by a herald in ancient Greece and Rome, specifically the one carried in mythology by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, usually represented with two snakes twined around it.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:
- Caduceus the rod of Mercury, / With which he wonts the Stygian realmes inuade [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:
- A symbol (☤) representing a staff with two snakes wrapped around it, used to indicate merchants and messengers, and also sometimes as a symbol of medicine.
- For usage examples of this term, see Citations:caduceus.
See also
- aesculapian staff
- Rod of Asclepius
Translations
symbol
|
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /kaːˈduː.ke.us/, [kaːˈduː.ke.ʊs]
Noun
cādūceus m (genitive cādūceī); second declension
- Alternative form of cādūceum
Inflection
Second declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cādūceus | cādūceī |
| genitive | cādūceī | cādūceōrum |
| dative | cādūceō | cādūceīs |
| accusative | cādūceum | cādūceōs |
| ablative | cādūceō | cādūceīs |
| vocative | cādūcee | cādūceī |
References
- caduceus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- caduceus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- caduceus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin