Homerus

Forms

Homērus m sg (genitive Homērī); second declension^[1] Also ⟨Homēros⟩, the Greek form.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Ὅμηρος (Hómēros).^[1][3][4][5] Etymonline notes that the Greek name is identical to ὅμηρος (hómēros, “a hostage”), which is said to have meant “blind” in some dialects, the connecting idea being one who goes with a companion; the name has also been explained otherwise.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius names him in his Annals.^[8]

Semantic evolution

It was the name of the Greek poet Homer:^[2][3] Cicero writes about his birthplace,^[4][3] Horace and Ovid name him,^[4] and Quintilian discusses him at length.^[4][3] By metonymy it meant his poems, as in Ulpian's Digest.^[2][8] In Cicero, Plato is Homērus philosophōrum, the Homer of philosophers.^[8]

The English name Homer comes from it.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius names Homer in his Annals.^[8][7]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes about Homer's birthplace.^[4][3][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace names him in the Art of Poetry.^[4][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian discusses him at length.^[4][3][7]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian uses the name for Homer's poems.^[8][7]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. Homer, the Greek epic poet.^[2][3][1]
2. (by metonymy) The poems of Homer.^[2][8]
3. (figurative) The greatest of a class: Homērus philosophōrum, the Homer of philosophers.^[8]

Word family

• Homēricus
• Homēriacus
• Homērius
• Homērista
• Homēromastīx
• Homērocentō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier