Etymologically
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alvarium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aɫˈwaː.ri.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [alˈvaː.ri.um][1]

Forms

alvārium n (genitive alvāriī or alvārī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin alvus (“belly; beehive”) + -ārium.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨alvus⟩ to Proto-Italic *aulos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewlo- (“tube, cavity”), with metathesis of ⟨*aulos⟩ to ⟨*alwos⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Varro's Rēs rūsticae, and Charisius quotes it from Cicero.[5][6] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a beehive and an apiary, as in Varro, Cicero and Pliny.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny uses it.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A beehive.[2]
  2. An apiary.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.