ardifetus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [aːr.dɪˈfeː.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ar.diˈfɛː.tus]^[1]

Forms

ārdifētus (feminine ārdifēta, neuter ārdifētum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of ārdeō “to burn” and fētus “pregnant”, and the TLL thinks Varro coined it from ⟨ardor⟩ and ⟨fētus⟩.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨fētus⟩ to Proto-Italic *fēto-, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-to- (“having given birth”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It occurs only in Varro's Menippean Satires, of a lamp or torch, quoted by Nonius.^[5][6][7] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Poetic, it meant pregnant with fire, flaming, of a lamp.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[5][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Pregnant with fire, flaming (of a lamp).^[2][5]

Related words

• ārdeō
• fētus
• ardor

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de