Cadaverous
/kəˈdæv.ə.rəs/noun
Resembling a corpse; pale, gaunt, or deathly thin.
Did you know?Its root comes from Latin cadāver, “fallen corpse,” and that word is linked to cadere, “to fall,” the same ancient root behind chance, cascade, and accident — as if death itself was imagined as a fall.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kad-
“to fall”
Latin
Latin
cadere
“to fall”
Latin
Latin
cadāver
“a corpse; a fallen body”
Late Latin
Latin
cadaverōsus
“corpse-like, pertaining to a corpse”
Middle English
English
cadaverous
“corpse-like; pale and ghastly”
Modern English
English
cadaverous
“resembling a corpse; pale, gaunt, or deathly thin”