Etymologically
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anulus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaː.nʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.nu.lus][1]

Forms

ānulus m (genitive ānulī); second declension[1] Lewis and Short reject the spelling annulus.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ānus (“ring”) with the suffix -ulus;[3][1][2] Lewis and Short note that it is not felt as a diminutive, like circulus from circum.[3][1][2] De Vaan traces ⟨ānus⟩ “ring” to Proto-Italic *āno- (“ring”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eh₂no- (“ring”), cognate with Old Irish áinne (“ring”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius, in a comedy: ānulum dat aliī spectandum, “he gives the ring to another to look at”.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a finger ring, above all a signet ring for sealing;[3][2] Plautus has a man set his own ring against another's.[3][2] The TLL notes that people carried one not for ornament but for sealing, so that only one was allowed, and only to the free.[6] A gold ring marked senatorial or equestrian rank, and iūs ānulōrum was the right to wear one; rings were put off in mourning, as Livy's senators lay aside their gold rings.[3] It is also a ring for other uses, a link of mail (Lucretius), a small circle (Varro), a curl of hair (Seneca), and in architecture a fillet (Vitruvius).[3]

Church Latin glosses it “ring”.[7] In Medieval Latin it is a seal ring, especially a bishop's.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius of a ring.[3][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a signet ring.[2][5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of an iron ring.[3][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of gold rings laid aside.[3][5]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of a fillet in architecture.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A finger ring, especially a signet ring.[3][1][7]
  2. A gold ring as a mark of rank;[3] iūs ānulōrum, the right to wear one.[3]
  3. A ring (for other uses); a link of mail.[3]
  4. A small circle; a curl of hair;[3] (architecture) a fillet, annulet.[3]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A bishop's seal ring.[8]

Word family

  • ānulāris
  • ānulārius
  • ānulātus

Usage notes

Lewis and Short list a separate diminutive of ānus in its other sense, the fundament, once in Cato.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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 e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill