ocimum

ocimum

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

    Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὤκιμον (ṓkimon).

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    ōcimum n (genitive ōcimī); second declension

    1. basil (Ocimum basilicum)
      • c. 62 CE, Persius, Saturae 4.19–22:
        [] Ī nunc,
        'Dīnomachēs ego sum' sufflā, 'sum candidus.' Estō,
        dum nē dēterius sapiat pannūcia Baucis,
        cum bene discīnctō cantāverit ōcima vernae.
        Go now,
        puff yourself up, 'I am the son of Dinomache, I am shining.' Be then,
        while only wizened Baucis has worse sense than you,
        when she nicely sings her basils to some ragged slave.

    Declension

    Second-declension noun (neuter).

    singular plural
    nominative ōcimum ōcima
    genitive ōcimī ōcimōrum
    dative ōcimō ōcimīs
    accusative ōcimum ōcima
    ablative ōcimō ōcimīs
    vocative ōcimum ōcima

    References

    • ocimum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • ocimum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.