cassus

Latin

Etymology

Verbal adjective of the same root as careō (“I lack”), castus (“pure”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- (“to cut”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.sus/, [ˈkäs̠ːʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkas.sus/, [ˈkäsːus]

Adjective

cassus (feminine cassa, neuter cassum); first/second-declension adjective

1. hollow, empty, devoid of something
2. lacking
3. useless, fruitless, vain, futile

   Synonyms: vānus, inānis, irritus, fūtilis

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	cassus	cassa	cassum		cassī	cassae	cassa
genitive	cassī	cassae	cassī		cassōrum	cassārum	cassōrum
dative	cassō	cassae	cassō		cassīs
accusative	cassum	cassam	cassum		cassōs	cassās	cassa
ablative	cassō	cassā	cassō		cassīs
vocative	casse	cassa	cassum		cassī	cassae	cassa

Derived terms

• cassō
• in cassum
• nux cassa (a nutshell)

Descendants

• Italian: casso

Further reading

• “cassus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cassus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cassus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• cassus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.