anculus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈaŋ.kʊ.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaŋ.ku.lus]^[1]

Forms

anculus m (genitive anculī); second declension^[1] A feminine ancula “maidservant” also occurs.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ambi-kʷolo-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi-kʷolh₁-os (“going towards, around”), from *h₂m̥bʰí (“around”) and the root ⟨*kʷelh₁-⟩ of colō.^[3][1] It is cognate with Ancient Greek ἀμφίπολος (amphípolos, “attendant”), from which the OLD and Köbler derive it, Old Irish buachail (“cowherd”) and Sanskrit अभिचर (abhicara, “servant, companion”).^[3][2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is known only from Paul the Deacon's epitome of Festus.^[3][6][4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a manservant, attendant, and ancula a maidservant.^[2][6] De Vaan thinks the word became restricted to religious use and survived only in glossaries, replaced in daily speech by famulus and servus; it was reanalysed as a diminutive ⟨anc-ulus⟩, and a new diminutive ancilla “maidservant” was formed from it, along with ancul(ā)re “to serve the gods” in Livius Andronicus.^[3]

British Medieval Latin glossaries took it, perhaps, as a cup-bearer.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A servant, attendant, (feminine ancula) a maidservant.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin glossaries) A cup-bearer.^[7]

Word family

• ancula

Related words

• colō
• ancilla
• ambi-

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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