tridens

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *tréyes

Proto-Indo-European *tri-

Proto-Italic *tri-

Latin tri-

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Italic *dents

Latin dēns

Latin tridēns

From tri- (“three”) + dēns (“tooth”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈtrɪ.dẽːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈtriː.dens]

Adjective

tridēns (genitive tridentis); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. three-tined, having three prongs or teeth

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	tridēns			tridentēs	tridentia
genitive	tridentis			tridentium
dative	tridentī			tridentibus
accusative	tridentem	tridēns		tridentīs tridentēs	tridentia
ablative	tridentī tridente			tridentibus
vocative	tridēns			tridentēs	tridentia

Descendants

• →⇒ Translingual: tridenticeps

Noun

tridēns m (genitive tridentis); third declension

1. trident, a three-tined spear; specifically, an attribute of Neptune
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.138–139:

     “nōn illī imperium pelagī saevumque tridentem,
     sed mihi sorte datum.”

     “Not to him [were] the empire of the sea and the stern trident [given], but to me [were] allotted by destiny.”
     (Neptune [me] dismisses the winds with a warning for Aeolus [him].)

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, ablative singular in -e or -ī).

	singular	plural
nominative	tridēns	tridentēs
genitive	tridentis	tridentium
dative	tridentī	tridentibus
accusative	tridentem	tridentēs tridentīs
ablative	tridente tridentī	tridentibus
vocative	tridēns	tridentēs

Descendants

All borrowed.

• → English: trident
• → Galician: tridente
• → Italian: tridente
• → Middle French: trident
  • French: trident
• → Spanish: tridente

Further reading

• “tridens”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tridens”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tridens”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “tridens”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “tridens”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin