eculeus

Forms

eculeus m (genitive eculeī); second declension^[1] It is also spelled equuleus.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin equus (“horse”) + -uleus.^[2][3] De Vaan traces equus to Proto-Italic *ekwo- (“horse”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ-u- (“horse”), comparing Sanskrit अश्व (áśva-, “horse”) and Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos, “horse”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro,^[4] who in his Menippean satires says that a groom will not break in a wild foal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a young or small horse, a foal or pony: Livy reports among prodigies that a cow gave birth to a foal, and Cicero mentions little silver horses as works of art.^[2] It is also an instrument of torture, probably a kind of rack: Cicero speaks of an inquiry into the facts on the rack and of a man tortured on it, and Seneca mentions it in his letters.^[2] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[3]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro of a wild foal.^[2][4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the rack and of silver horses.^[2][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a foal born to a cow.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A young or small horse, a foal, pony.^[2]
2. An instrument of torture, probably a kind of rack.^[2]

Word family

• equiliolus

Related words

• equus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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