columbus

Forms

columbus m (genitive columbī, feminine columba); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin columba (“dove, pigeon”), made as its masculine counterpart.^[2][3][1] De Vaan finds no clear origin for the feminine; he compares Balto-Slavic words for “blue” and “dove” such as Old Prussian golimban (“blue”) and Lithuanian gelumbė̃ (“cloth”), and, further removed in meaning, Ancient Greek κόλυμβος (kólumbos, “small diver”), but notes that the forms would need an irregular alternation of the first consonant.^[3] Lewis and Short also compare the Greek word, and Köbler a root Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“spotted”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first,^[3][5] in the Rudens, for a male pigeon.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Varro discusses it as the masculine of columba, and Catullus uses it, once of a man.^[4][7] Horace, Columella and Pliny the Elder use it of the dove in general.^[4][7] It continues as Italian colombo.^[6] A chronicle of Reggio for 1218 tells of captured Saracens who were swimming from the Sultan's army with fire, pigeons and letters.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Rudens.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro discusses the male and female forms.^[4][6]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^[4][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a dove in general.^[4][7]
• 1218 – Under this year, a chronicle of Reggio mentions pigeons carried by Saracens at the siege of Damietta.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A male pigeon or dove, a cock pigeon.^[2][4]
2. A dove in general.^[4][7]

Word family

• columbulus

Related words

• columba

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre