Gaius

Latin

Alternative forms

• (praenominal abbreviation): C., G. (less frequently)
• (archaic or hypercorrect): Cāius, Cājus
• Gājus

Etymology

For Gāvius, from Proto-Italic *Gāwjos, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *geh₂w- (“to rejoice”). Cognate with gaudeō, gaudium. Cognate with Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌄 (cae).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈɡaː.i.us/, [ˈɡäːiʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡa.i.us/, [ˈɡäːius]
• (Late Latin, common variant) IPA^(key): /ˈɡai̯.i̯us/, [ˈɡäi̯ːʊs̠]

Proper noun

Gāius m (genitive Gāiī or Gāī, feminine Gāia); second declension

1. A masculine praenomen, in particular:

   Qui totus servatus est in Gaiorum et Quintorum laterculis.^source

   Which was kept in its entirety on the registers of Gaiuses and Quintuses.

   1. Gaius (an eminent jurist who lived in the second century A.D.)
   2. Caligula, the emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

Usage notes

• 1876, "C" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, page 616:

  The symbol [C] retained its old value [/ɡ/] only when as the initial letter it represented the names Gaius and Gnæus, which, in consequence, are often erroneously written and sounded Caius and Cnæus.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	Gāius	Gāiī
genitive	Gāiī Gāī1	Gāiōrum
dative	Gāiō	Gāiīs
accusative	Gāium	Gāiōs
ablative	Gāiō	Gāiīs
vocative	Gāī	Gāiī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).
The noun Gāius possesses several irregularly syncopated forms in the nominative, dative, ablative, and vocative plural.

Derived terms

• Gāia f (praenomen)
• Gāiānus (“of, pertaining to Caligula”, adjective)
• Gāīpor (“male slave of Gaius”)

Descendants

• → German: Gajus
• → Indonesian: Gayus
• → Ancient Greek: Γάϊος (Gáïos)
• → Coptic: ⲅⲁⲓⲟⲥ (gaios)
• → Etruscan: 𐌂𐌀𐌉𐌄 (caie)
• Georgian: გაიუსი (gaiusi)
• Italian: Gaio, Caio
• Portuguese: Gaio, Caio
• Russian: Гай (Gaj) (possibly)
• Spanish: Gayo

References

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