vitulus marinus

Latin

Etymology

From vitulus + marīnus. Compare English sea calf and the use of other terrestrial animals' names to create ones of aquatic and semiaquatic animals in compounds with the adjective marīnus: porcus marīnus (“porpoise”, literally “sea pork”), rāna marīna (“anglerfish”, literally “sea frog”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwɪ.tʊ.ɫʊs maˈriː.nʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈviː.tu.lus maˈriː.nus]

Noun

vitulus marīnus m (genitive vitulī marīnī); second declension

1. seal, sea calf

   Synonyms: vitulus, phōca, (Medieval Latin) canis marīnus

   • 121 CE, Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, volume Aug.90:

     Tonitrua et fulgura paulo infirmius expavescebat, ut semper et ubique pellem vituli marini circumferret pro remedio, […]

     He had so great a fear of thunder and lightnings that, wherever he be, he always packed the hide of a seal to cover himself with as relief, […]

Declension

Second-declension noun with a second-declension adjective.

	singular	plural
nominative	vitulus marīnus	vitulī marīnī
genitive	vitulī marīnī	vitulōrum marīnōrum
dative	vitulō marīnō	vitulīs marīnīs
accusative	vitulum marīnum	vitulōs marīnōs
ablative	vitulō marīnō	vitulīs marīnīs
vocative	vitule marīne	vitulī marīnī

Further reading

• “vitulus marinus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.