Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

Chăŏs or Chăus, abl. Chao (other cases not used in the class. per.; gen. Chaï, Serv. ad Verg. A. 1, 664; dat. Chaï, Prisc. p. 720 P.), n., = Χάος.

  1. I. The boundless, empty space; as the kingdom of darkness, the Lower World: ingens, Ov. M. 10, 30; 14, 404; id. Ib. 84: inane, id. F. 4, 600: caecum, Sen. Med. 741; Stat. Th. 12, 772; Val. Fl. 7, 402; impersonated, masc., god of the Lower World, father of Erebos and Nox, Verg. A. 4, 510 (acc. Chaos); 6, 265; Quint. 3, 7, 8; cf.: Janus … edidit hos sonos; me Chaos antiqui, nam sum res prisca, vocabant, Ov. F. 1, 103.
    1. B. Hence also, immeasurable darkness, deep obscurity: Cimmerium, Stat. S. 3, 2, 92: horridum, Prud. Cath. 5, 3.
  2. II. The confused, formless, primitive mass out of which the universe was made, chaos, Ov. M. 1, 7; 2, 299; Lact. 1, 5, 8; 2, 8, 8: a Chao, since the creation of the world, Verg. G. 4, 347.