Etymologically
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corniger

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkɔr.nɪ.ɡɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkɔr.ni.d͡ʒer][1]

Forms

corniger (feminine cornigera, neuter cornigerum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of cornū (“horn”) and -ger (“bearing”), from gerō (“to carry”).[2][3][1] De Vaan traces cornū to Proto-Italic *kornu- (“horn”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱrn-o- (“horn”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius,[4] who uses it of stags and of the horned mothers of kids; the TLL finds it from Cicero and Lucretius on,[3][5] and a verse of Cicero's uses it of the Bull.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a poetic word for having horns or antlers, used of stags, heifers and the constellation of the Bull.[5][2] Ovid calls Jupiter Ammon horned.[5][2] As a noun it is a horned animal, as Seneca's horned beast of the sea, a bull.[2]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of stags and goats.[5][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the Bull.[5][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of Jupiter Ammon.[5][2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of a bull from the sea.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having horns or antlers, horned;[2][5][1] Iuppiter corniger, Ammon.[2]

Noun

  1. A horned animal.[2]

Word family

  • bicorniger
  • tricorniger

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de