colus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔ.ɫʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.lus]^[1]

Forms

colus f (genitive colī or colūs); variously declined, second declension, fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

De Vaan gives a form Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-u- (“turning”), from the root of colō, though the origin is uncertain.^[2][1] It has been compared with Ancient Greek πόλος (pólos, “axis, pivot”), which the OLD accepts with doubt, but Walde and Hofmann hesitate because a distaff does not itself turn.^[2][3] Some have tried to connect it with colubra “snake”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character asks whether he was ordered to carry a distaff.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a distaff, the staff that holds the wool for spinning, and by metonymy the wool on it.^[3] In poetry it was the distaff of the Fates, from which each person's thread of life is spun, as in Propertius.^[3] It is declined in both the second and fourth declensions, and is usually feminine, but masculine in Catullus and Propertius.^[3][5]

In Medieval Latin it was also a symbol of effeminacy and of inheritance in the female line.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[7][4]
• 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of the Fates.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A distaff.^[3]
2. The wool on the distaff.^[3]
3. The distaff of the Fates.^[3]

Related words

• colō
• colubra

Usage notes

It is distinct from cōlus, a form of cōlon “colon”, used by Serenus Sammonicus.^[7][4]

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 c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.