fiber

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɪ.bɛr]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfiː.ber]^[1]

Forms

fiber m (genitive fibrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *fifro-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰe-bʰr-o- (“brown animal, beaver”), a reduplicated form of the root *bʰer- “brown”.^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú-, “reddish-brown”), Lithuanian bebras (“beaver”), Russian бобр (bobr, “beaver”), Old High German bibar (“beaver”) and Old English beofor (“beaver”).^[2][3] All the cognates point to *bʰebʰr-, so either the first vowel was raised to /i/ in Latin or the word continues a variant *bʰibʰr-; a few glosses and Varro have feber.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, from a fragment quoted by Festus.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the beaver, also called castor, as Pliny describes the beaver of the Black Sea and its prized glands.^[3][4] Varro has the variant feber.^[2]

Medieval glosses equate it with castor and Old English befer, and in British sources it could also be the otter or the badger.^[6] The Germanic name gave English beaver, and Late Latin beber was borrowed from Germanic.^[7][4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[2][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro has the form feber.^[2][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the beaver.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beaver.^[3]
2. (Medieval Latin) An otter; a badger.^[6]

Word family

• fibrīnus

Related words

• castor
• English beaver

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b 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. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com