Etymologically
Log in

bidens

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 03:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbɪ.dẽːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbiː.dens][1]

Forms

bidēns (genitive bidentis); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] The old form is duidēns;[2][3] Gellius cites bidennes for bidentes.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin bi- (“two”) + dēns (“tooth”), with the old form ⟨duidēns⟩ recorded in Paulus' epitome of Festus.[2][4][5] De Vaan traces bi- to Proto-Indo-European *dwi- (“two”) and dēns to Proto-Indo-European *h₃d-n̥t- (“tooth”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the adjective from Accius, who has a two-pronged iron.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it means having two teeth or two prongs: Pomponius vows a boar with two permanent teeth to Mars, and the Ciris gives Scylla two-bladed shears.[2] As a feminine noun it is an animal for sacrifice, especially a sheep; the OLD quotes Laberius first.[2][4] Wiktionary explains the name by the age of such a sheep, when its two front incisors have been replaced by larger permanent ones.[1] As a masculine noun it is a two-pronged hoe: Lucretius has men who groan over the heavy hoe.[2] Lewis & Short note that Cicero does not use it.[3] Gellius cites the form ⟨bidennes⟩.[2]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of a two-pronged iron.[2][4][6]
  • 106–43 BC – Laberius of a sacrificial animal.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a hoe.[2][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having two permanent teeth.[2][1]
  2. Having two prongs or points, two-pronged; of shears, two-bladed.[2][1]

Noun

  1. (feminine) An animal for sacrifice, especially a sheep.[2][7][1]
  2. (masculine) A two-pronged hoe or mattock.[2][7][1]

Word family

  • bidental
  • bidentālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson