alumen

Forms

alūmen n (genitive alūminis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed with the suffix -men on a stem ⟨alu-⟩, which de Vaan reconstructs as inherited from Proto-Italic *alu- (“bitter substance”), in the way bitūmen is formed.^[2][3] The same stem is in alūta, leather treated with alum, and probably in the plant name alum (“comfrey”), whose wound-healing effects resemble those of alum; de Vaan thinks a link with ālium “garlic” less likely, and notes that the length of the first vowel is not known.^[2]

In theory the stem may be cognate with Ancient Greek ἀλύδοιμος (alúdoimos, “bitter”), since alum is salty, and then perhaps with the word for “beer” in Germanic and Balto-Slavic: Lithuanian alùs (“beer”), Old Norse ǫl (“beer, drinking feast”), Old English ealu.^[2][3][1] De Vaan also considers that it might come from a European substrate language.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is the historian Claudius Quadrigarius, of the 1st century BC.^[2][4] Gellius has the phrase “to smear something with alum”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was the name of a group of astringent salts used in medicine and dyeing.^[3] Vitruvius, Columella and Celsus use it,^[6] Celsus distinguishing split, round and liquid alum,^[7] and Pliny the Elder describes it as an exudation of the earth, of which there are several kinds: white alum serves to dye wool in bright colours and black alum in dark ones, and the best comes from Egypt, the next from Melos.^[7] Ammianus Marcellinus tells of materials smeared with alum so that fire would slide off them harmlessly,^[7] and Isidore of Seville repeats Pliny's definition.^[7]

Medieval sources name many kinds by origin and quality, such as plume, rock and sugar alum,^[8] and Köbler adds medieval uses for a pigment, pitch, glass frit and salt.^[4] The word lives on in Italian allume, Old French alun and Spanish alumbre.^[1]

Timeline

• 1st century BC – Claudius Quadrigarius uses it.^[2][4]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^[6][4]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus distinguishes several kinds in medicine.^[7][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes its kinds and use in dyeing.^[7][4]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it against fire.^[7][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it.^[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Alum, any of several astringent salts (sulphates of aluminium, potash alum and the like).^[3][6][8]

Word family

• aluminarius
• aluminatus
• aluminosus
• exalūminātus

Related words

• alūta
• English alum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press