cervix

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See also: cérvix

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin cervīx (neck), see below.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cervix (plural cervixes or cervices)

  1. (anatomy) The neck.
    • 1979, Clive Sinclair, Hearts of Gold, Penguin, published 1983, page 10:
      I put my hands on Madeleine's hot cheeks, making a prize cup of my hands and her cervix, and tilted her head to one side.
  2. (anatomy) The necklike portion of an organ or part of the body.
  3. (now specifically) The cervix uteri, or lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina.
    • 2023 January 23, Anna Bawden, The Guardian:
      Screening involves taking a small sample of cells from the cervix and looking for high-risk HPV that could develop into cancer if left untreated.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin cervīx, see below.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛr.vɪks/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: cer‧vix

Noun

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cervix m (plural cervixen or cervices, diminutive cervixje n)

  1. neck
  2. the cervix between the uterus and the vagina

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Latin

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Etymology

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According to one hypothesis, from Proto-Italic *kerweyks, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂(s)weyk-s, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂-(s-) (the head) (compare cerebrum) and *weyk- (to curve, bend) (compare vinciō), literally where the head turns. De Vaan rejects this etymology, calling it "semantically very doubtful".[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cervīx f (genitive cervīcis); third declension

  1. (anatomy, zootomy) neck, nape, throat
    Synonym: collum
    • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.415–416:
      apta iugō cervīx nōn est feriendā secūrī:
      vīvat et in dūrā saepe labōret humō.
      The neck suitable for the yoke should not be struck by the axe:
      may it live long and labor often in the hard soil.

      (Agriculture dawns as Ceres teaches humans to yoke oxen to the plow and instead use other animals for sacrificial rites. See Ceres (mythology).)
    • 30 BCE – 16 BCE, Propertius, Elegies 3.17–18:
      levis odorato cervix manabit olivo
      et feries nudos veste fluente pedes
      Your smooth throat glistening with scented oil
      the flowing robe will brush your naked feet.
  2. (figuratively)
    1. great burden, danger (from the figure taken from bearing the yoke)
    2. boldness, headstrong behavior
  3. (transferred sense) (of an object) neck

Note: Often used in the plural with singular meaning.

  • 44 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Philippics :
    Consules designati negabant se audere in senatum venire; patriae liberatores urbe carebant ea, cuius a cervicibus iugum servile deiecerant.
    The consuls-elect said they did not dare attend the senate. The liberators of their native land were parted from the very city from whose neck they had cast off the yoke of slavery.

Inflection

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Third-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative cervīx cervīcēs
Genitive cervīcis cervīcum
Dative cervīcī cervīcibus
Accusative cervīcem cervīcēs
Ablative cervīce cervīcibus
Vocative cervīx cervīcēs

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “cervīx”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 111

Further reading

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  • cervix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • cervix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • cervix 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)
  • cervix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to break a person's neck: cervices (in Cic. only in plur.) frangere alicui or alicuius
    • a sword hangs over his neck: gladius cervicibus impendet
    • the foe is at our heels, is upon us: hostis in cervicibus alicuius est
    • to shake off the yoke of slavery: iugum servile a cervicibus deicere (Phil. 1. 2. 6)
  • Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “cervīx”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 613

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French cérvix.

Noun

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cervix n (uncountable)

  1. cervix

Declension

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