Vocabulary – Latin Fifth Declension

This is a list of fifth declension nouns found in Lewis and Short, Cassell’s, and the Oxford Latin Dictionary. They are divided into related groupings.

The fifth declension nouns are almost always feminine, except for dies (day), which is feminine in general, but masculine when referring to a particular day of the week or other important day.

As a reminder, the nouns decline in the following way:

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-es	-es
Genitive	-ei	-erum
Dative	-ei	-ebus
Accusative	-em	-es
Ablative	-e	-ebus

However, most of the nouns do not have attested plurals.

Nouns used most frequently

Some of the nouns will be encountered more frequently than the others.

- caesaries – hair

- dies – day

o antemeridies – morning

o meridies – midday, south

o semidies – half day

- facies – face, form, shape

o bonifacies – handsome

o superficies – surface, building

- fides – faith

- progenies – progeny, offspring, generation

- res – matter, affair, thing

- series – succession, sequence, series

- species – appearance, form, image, pretense

o factispecies – facts

- spes – hope

Alternate form of -ia

A majority of the nouns are an alternate form of a noun ending in –ia (or sometimes –ium). These are often derived from a second or third declension adjective.

- amicities – friendliness (amicitia, amicus)

- avarities – greed (avaritia, avarus)

- barbaries – barbarism (barbaria, barbarus)

- blandities – flattery (bladitia, blandus)

- calvities – baldness (calvitium, calvus)

- canities – greyness, old age (canitia, canus)

- desidies – idleness (desidia)

- durities – hardness, severity (duritia, durus)

- effigies – likeness, portrait (effigia)

- fallacies – trick, deception (fallacia, fallax)

- lanicies – wool (lanicia, lana)

- lentities – toughness, stickiness (lentitia, lentus)

- luxuries – extravagance, luxury (luxuria, luxus)

- maceries – wall (maceria)

- materies – matter, material (materia)

- minuties – smallness (minutia, minutus)

- mollities – softness, weakness (mollitia, mollis)

- mundities – cleanliness (munditia, mundus); immundities – uncleanliness (immunditia)

- muries – brine, pickle (muria)

- prosapies – race, family (prosapia)

- nequities – badness, wickedness (nequitia, nequam)

- nigrities – blackness (nigritia, niger)

- notities – fame, celebrity (notitia, notus)

- pigrities – laziness, sloth (pigritia, piger)

- pinguities – fatness (pinguitia, pinguis)

- planities – plain (planitia, planus)

- puerities – childhood (pueritia, puer)

- saevities – cruelty, savageness (saevitia, saevus)

- scabrities – roughness, itchiness (scabritia)

- segnities – slowness, laziness (segnitia, segnis)

- spurcities – filth, dirt (spurcitia, spurcus)

- tristities – sadness (tristitia, tristis)

Alternate form of –tas or -tudo

Some are an alternate form of a third declension noun ending in –tas or –tudo, ultimately from a second or third declension adjective:

- almities – kindness (almitas, almus)

- amarities – bitterness (amaritas, amaritudo, amarus)

- crassities – thickness (crassitas, crassitudo, crassus)

- lenities – gentleness (lenitas, lenitudo, lenis)

- magnities – greatness, size (magnitudo, magnus)

- navities – diligence, zeal (navitas, navus)

- pauperies – poverty (paupertas, pauper)

- pernicies – destruction, death (pernicitas, pernix)

- sordities – filth (sorditudo, sordes, -is)

- tardities – slowness, lateness (tarditas, tarditudo, tardus)

- vanities – vanity, emptiness (vanitas, vanitudo, vanus)

- vastities – ruin, destruction (vastitas, vastitudo, vastus)

Other forms

Some are derived from a second or third declension noun or adjective:

- acies – edge, sharpness, line of battle (acer)

- alluvies – an overflow of water or land (alluvio, -onis)

o colluvies – collection of filth, impurities (colluvio, -onis)

o diluvies – flood (diluvio, -onis)

o eluvies – washing away, overflowing (elluvio, -onis)

o illuvies – uncleanliness, inundation (illuvio, -onis)

o interluvies – strait, flowing water (interluvio, -onis)

o proluvies – overflow, inundation (proluvio, -onis)

o subluvies – filth, dirt (subluvio, -onis)

- imbalnities – filthiness ([im]balneum)

- internecies – massacre, slaughter (internecio, -onis)

- macies – thinness, meagreness (macer)

- pullities – young bird (pullus)

- sanies – blood, fluid (sanguis)

- saties – sufficiency, abundance (satias, -atis, satis)

- suberies – cork tree (suber)

Some are derived from a verb:

- balbuties – stammering (balbutio)

- congeries – heap, pile (congero)

o digeries – distribution (digero)

o egeries – excrement (egero)

o intergeries – wall, partition (intergero)

- esuries – hunger (esurio)

- glacies – ice (glacio)

- imperfundies – filth ([im]perfundo)

- ingluvies – gluttony ([in]glutio)

- prosicies – sacrifice (proseco)

- rabies – rage, madness (rabio)

- scabies – roughness, itchiness (scabo)

- temperies – mixture, temperature, temper (tempero)

o intemperies – intemperance, storm, bad weather

Other

- caries – decay (from caro? Would it then be carnies?)

- permities – ruin, destruction (distinct from pernicies, according to Lewis and Short)

- plebs (common people) also has a fifth-declension variant plebes.

- requies (rest) also has a fifth declension variant.