cremor

Forms

cremor m sg (genitive cremōris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed: the OLD calls it doubtful and the TLL unknown.^[2][3] In de Vaan's view it is from Latin cremō (“to burn”), listed among that verb's derivatives;^[4] Lewis and Short also relate it to cremō.^[5] For cremō itself de Vaan compares the Celtic words for “beer”, such as Old Irish cuirm and Gaulish curmi, from Proto-Celtic *kormi-, while noting that the difference in vowels needs an explanation.^[4]

Wiktionary mentions two other proposals: Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₃-m- (“porridge, soup”), comparing Sanskrit करम्भ (karambhá, “groats, gruel”), or Proto-Indo-European *ḱh₁erh₂- (“to mix”).^[1] Köbler refers it, with a query, to Proto-Indo-European *kerə- (“to burn”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus' Persa (95), of the thickness of a broth.^[3][5][7]

Semantic evolution

Cato, in his work on agriculture, cooks a mixture until the cremor is thick and presses it out into a new pan.^[3][5] Ovid, in his poem on cosmetics, uses it of the juice that barley yields.^[3][7] It is frequent in medical writers: Celsus and Scribonius Largus prescribe the cremor of pearl barley, rice, figs, bran or lentils,^[3] and the veterinary writers Chiron and Vegetius use it too.^[3]

Medieval Latin used it for a thick juice drawn from plants, a syrup.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the thickness of a broth.^[3][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it in his recipes.^[3][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of barley juice.^[3][7]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus prescribes the cremor of barley and other grains.^[3][5]
• c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus prescribes barley cremor.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thick juice made by boiling grain and the like in water; a decoction, gruel.^[2][5]
2. A thick juice from animal or vegetable substances; thick broth.^[5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A thick plant juice, a syrup.^[8]

Related words

• cremō

Usage notes

Wiktionary records it only in the singular.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften