ocimum

Latin

Alternative forms

ōcimus

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ὤκιμον (ṓkimon).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈoː.kɪ.mũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɔː.t͡ʃi.mum]

Noun

ōcimum n (genitive ōcimī); second declension

basil (Ocimum basilicum)
- c. 62 CE, Persius, Saturae 4.19–22:
  […] Ī nunc,
  'Dīnomachēs ego sum' sufflā, 'sum candidus.' Estō,
  dum nē dēterius sapiat pannūcia Baucis,
  cum bene discīnctō cantāverit ōcima vernae.
  Go now,
  puff yourself up, 'I am the son of Dinomache, I am shining.' Be then,
  while only wizened Baucis has worse sense than you,
  when she nicely sings her basils to some ragged slave.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	ōcimum	ōcima
genitive	ōcimī	ōcimōrum
dative	ōcimō	ōcimīs
accusative	ōcimum	ōcima
ablative	ōcimō	ōcimīs
vocative	ōcimum	ōcima

References

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