amicula

Forms

amīcula f (genitive amīculae, masculine amīculus); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin amīca (“female friend, mistress”) + -ula, a diminutive, the feminine of amīculus.^[2][1][3] ⟨amīcus⟩ is from amō (“to love”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *ama- (“to take, hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to take hold of”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Varro, and Gaffiot cites Cicero's De oratore.^[5][3] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a little sweetheart, a mistress, lady friend.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mistress, lady friend, little sweetheart.^[2][3]

Related words

• amīca
• amīculus
• amō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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