aurichalcum

English

Noun

aurichalcum (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of orichalcum

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /au̯.riˈkʰal.kum/, [äu̯rɪˈkʰäɫ̪kʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /au̯.riˈkal.kum/, [äu̯riˈkälkum]
• Metrical evidence for the length of the vowel in the second syllable is inconclusive: this word occurs in verse three times in the works of Plautus, in each case in the same metrical position, with the second syllable as the third anceps element in a line of trochaic septenarius. A syllable in this position can be long or short, but given the short scansion attested for i in the alternative form orichalcum, it may be preferable to assume the same length for the form with au.

Noun

aurichalcum n (genitive aurichalcī); second declension

1. Alternative form of orichalcum
   • c. 190 BCE, Plautus, Curculio 202, (trochaic septenarius):

     Cedo mihi contra aurichalco cui ego sano serviam.

   • c. 206 BCE, Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 658, (trochaic septenarius):

     Cedo tris mi hominis aurichalco contra cum istis moribus.

   • c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus 688, (trochaic septenarius):

     Di immortales, aurichalco contra non carum fuit.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	aurichalcum	aurichalca
Genitive	aurichalcī	aurichalcōrum
Dative	aurichalcō	aurichalcīs
Accusative	aurichalcum	aurichalca
Ablative	aurichalcō	aurichalcīs
Vocative	aurichalcum	aurichalca

References

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