fugax

Latin

Etymology

Derived from fugiō (“I flee, escape”) +‎ -āx (“inclined to”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfʊ.ɡaːks]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfuː.ɡaks]

Adjective

fugāx (genitive fugācis, comparative fugācior, superlative fugācissimus, adverb fugāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective

swift
flying swiftly
fleeting, transitory
- c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.1.3:
  [Tempus:] in huius reī ūnīus fugācīs ac lūbricae possessiōnem nātūra nōs mīsit, ex quā expellit quīcumque vult.
  [Time:] Nature gave us ownership of this one fleeting and slippery thing, from which anyone who wants is dispossessing us.
avoidant/avoiding, elusive
coy

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

	masc./fem.	neuter	masc./fem.	neuter
	singular		plural
nominative	fugāx		fugācēs	fugācia
genitive	fugācis		fugācium
dative	fugācī		fugācibus
accusative	fugācem	fugāx	fugācēs	fugācia
ablative	fugācī		fugācibus
vocative	fugāx		fugācēs	fugācia

Descendants

Catalan: fugaç
English: fugacious
French: fugace
Galician: fugaz
Italian: fugace
Occitan: fugaç
Portuguese: fugaz
Romanian: fugaci
Spanish: fugaz

References

“fugax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“fugax”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
fugax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.