biiugus

Forms

biiugus (feminine biiuga, neuter biiugum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] A by-form biiugis is used beside it,^[2][3] and a contracted bīgus appears in Manilius.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is from Latin bi- (“two”) + iugum (“yoke”).^[5][6][1] The TLL derives it from the noun or from iungō (“to join, yoke”) and compares bīgae (“a two-horse chariot”).^[7] De Vaan explains such compounds of a numeral and the root of that verb as old o-stems.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL takes the -us form to be the older one, found from Lucretius on.^[7][6] Lucretius uses it of a pair of yoked lions (biiugōs leōnēs) and of a chariot drawn by two horses.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Virgil uses it of a chariot race (biiugō certāmine) and, as a plural noun biiugī, of a two-horse chariot from which Turnus leaps down.^[2][5][9] Martial uses it of horses, Valerius Flaccus of serpents, and Statius of the pole of a chariot.^[4] In metre Terentianus Maurus calls a pair of feet biiugī pedēs.^[2]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of yoked lions and a two-horse chariot.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a chariot race and of a chariot.^[2][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a pair of horses.^[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Yoked in pairs; of a chariot, drawn by two horses.^[2][4]
2. (masculine plural as a noun) A two-horse chariot.^[2][5]
3. Of a contest: for two-horse chariots.^[2][9]
4. (prosody) Of feet: in pairs.^[2]

Related words

• iugum
• bīgae

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier