Etymologically
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dromas

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdrɔ.mas][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdrɔː.mas][1]

Forms

dromas m (genitive dromadis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δρομάς (dromás, “running”),[2][3][4][5] short for the phrase δρομὰς κάμηλος (dromàs kámēlos, “running camel”).[1][6] Etymonline takes the Greek from δρόμος (drómos, “race course”), from δραμεῖν (drameîn, “to run”), from Proto-Indo-European *drem- (“to run”).[6] The TLL finds the Greek phrase only in Diodorus, Plutarch, Strabo and Josephus.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livy has it first, of camels “which they call dromades”.[4][7][5]

Semantic evolution

Curtius uses it as an adjective with camēlus, of very swift camels among gifts,[4][8] and the OLD defines it as able to run well.[2] Later forms are ⟨dromeda⟩ and ⟨dromedās⟩: Vopiscus speaks of camels “which they call dromedae”, and Jerome uses dromades as a noun.[4][8] Isidore explains that the dromeda is a kind of camel, smaller but faster, named from the Greek word for running, and that it can cover a hundred miles and more in a day.[4][9] The Vulgate and Jerome also use the derivative dromadārius, the source, through Old French ⟨dromedaire⟩, of English dromedary.[3][6]

As a proper name, Dromas is one of Actaeon's hounds in Ovid.[3][8]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of swift camels.[4][5]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius has dromades camēlī.[4][5]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it as a noun.[4][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains the dromeda as a fast camel.[4][5]
  • late 13th century – English dromedary is first recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A dromedary, a swift riding camel.[3][7][1]

Adjective

  1. Able to run well, swift, of camels.[2][8]

Word family

  • dromadārius
  • English dromedary

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).