cadaver

Meaning

corpse, cadaver, carcass

Concepts

corpse

cadaver

carcass

body

carrion

dead body

carcase

corse

clay

remains

stiff

Aas

Translations

cadáver

Kadaver

kadaver

cadavre

Aas

kreng

cadáver

Leiche

lijk

cadàver

cadavere

πτώμα

κουφάρι

Leichnam

Pronounced as (IPA)

[kaˈdaː.wɛr]

Etymology

From the Latin verb cadō (“I fall”), as a euphemism for dying, "the fallen one". This etymology is found as early as ca. 200 C.E. in the writings of Tertullian, who associated cadaver to cadendo:
*
c. 160 CE – c. 225 CE, Tertullian, De Resurrectione Carnis 18:
Atque adeo caro est quae morte subruitur, ut exinde a cadendo cadaver enuntietur.
Indeed, the flesh is that which is subsumed by death, and may thereafter be termed "cadaver."
A folk etymology derives cadaver syllabically from the Latin expression caro data vermibus (flesh given to worms). This etymology, more popular in Romance countries, can be traced back as early as the Schoolmen of the Middle Ages.