asilus

Forms

asīlus m (genitive asīlī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][1][3] The OLD suggests it is perhaps Etruscan,^[4] and Köbler also mentions Etruscan as possible.^[5] De Vaan reasons that the /s/ between vowels points to an older cluster such as ⟨ss⟩ or ⟨ts⟩, after which a long vowel would be expected, so that the word is probably a borrowing, while Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros, “gadfly”) is not similar enough in form to be connected.^[2] Wiktionary objects that ⟨asīlus⟩ could be the regular outcome of a form with ⟨ss⟩ under the rule seen in pusillus and ofella.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Nigidius Figulus, quoted in the Servian commentary on Virgil, who describes the asilus as a many-coloured fly, the tabanus, most harmful to cattle.^[4][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Virgil, in the Georgics, calls asilus the Roman name of the fly that the Greeks called oestrus.^[4][6] Seneca already treats the word as old-fashioned, and the usual word was tabanus.^[6] Pliny the Elder notes the sting in its mouth.^[4] Georges notes that it lives on in Italian asillo.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 100–45 BC – Nigidius Figulus describes the asilus as a fly harmful to cattle.^[4][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil gives asilus as the Roman name of the Greek oestrus.^[4][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca discusses the word as one that has gone out of use.^[6][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes its sting.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gadfly, horsefly.^[4][6]

Usage notes

The Greek glossaries render it with Ancient Greek οἶστρος (oîstros) and Ancient Greek μύωψ (múōps).^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften