decus

See also: déçus

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdet͡sus/
• Rhymes: -et͡sus
• Syllabification: de‧cus

Verb

decus

1. conditional of deci

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *dekos (“dignity”), from Proto-Indo-European *déḱos (“that which is proper”), from *deḱ- (“take, perceive”). Compare with decor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛ.kʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈdɛː.kus]

Noun

decus n (genitive decoris); third declension

1. honor, distinction, glory
   • c. 100-110, Tacitus, Histories: Book 4‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 March 2026:

     Obsessos hinc fides, inde egestas inter decus ac flagitium distrahebant.

     The ties of loyalty on the one hand, and the necessities of famine on the other, kept the besieged wavering between the alternatives of glory and infamy.

2. pride, dignity
3. grace, splendor, ornament, beauty

   Synonyms: faciēs, pulchritūdō, decor

   Antonyms: dēdecus, dehonestāmentum

4. (in the plural) deeds of honor, honorable achievements

   Synonyms: ausus, ausum, fortia, gestum

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	decus	decora
genitive	decoris	decorum
dative	decorī	decoribus
accusative	decus	decora
ablative	decore	decoribus
vocative	decus	decora

Derived terms

• decorō
• dēdecus

Related terms

• decet
• decor
• decōrus

Further reading

• “decus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “decus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "decus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “decus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.