English

Wikispecies

Noun

ensifer ‎(uncountable)

1. (microbiology) A member of the genus Ensifer, the bacteria family of Rhizobiaceae.

Anagrams

• refines

Latin

Etymology

From ēnsis ‎(“sword”) +‎ -fer ‎(“-carrying”).

Orion depicted as an ensifer (sword-bearer), Uranometria, 1603

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈen.si.fer/, [ˈẽː.sɪ.fɛr]

Adjective

ēnsifer m ‎(feminine ēnsifera, neuter ēnsiferum); first/second declension

1. sword-bearing
2. (substantive) sword-bearer
3. (substantive) one name of the constellation Orion (like the Ancient Greek ξιφήρης ‎(xiphḗrēs))
   • 1835. M. Annaeus Lucanus, Pharsalia (ed. Carolus Hermannus Weise) book 1, line 663 (3.61):

     Ensiferi nimium fulget latus Orionis ?

Declension

First/second declension, nominative masculine singular in -er.

References

• ensĭfer in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ENSIFERI in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “ensĭfĕr (-ger)”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 590/3.
• M. Annaeus Lucanus (1835) Pharsalia (poem).
• “ensifer” on page 609/2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• “ensifer” on page 375/1 of Jan Frederik Niermeyer’s Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus (1976)
• Glossary of Latin Words, Bible History Online. (File retrieved 10-19-07)