Translation
dust; powder
Examples
reverteris.
You are dust, and to dust you shall return.
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A great cloud of dust was rising.
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The soldier came back covered in dust.
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He wrote in the dust with his finger.
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The wind was carrying dust across the fields.
Pulvis, pulveris, m., third declension. Masculine, though the -is nominative tempts you towards feminine and a few poets take the licence. Scribes write puluere and pulueris because u and v are one letter in the manuscripts; there is no separate word there.
It covers dust, powder and the grit of the arena, and the last of those gives it a metaphor Cicero is fond of: doctrina sine pulvere is learning that has never been put to the test, book knowledge that has not been out on the sand. In this corpus the Ash Wednesday tag pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris does most of the heavy lifting. English pulverise, powder and pollen, the fine flour of a flower, are all cousins.
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pulvis: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "pulvis" (dust; powder): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 17.