fimum

Forms

fimum n (genitive fimī); second declension^[1] Also fimus, which is masculine in Late Latin and feminine in Apuleius.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[4][2] The OLD suggests that it may be cognate with foeteō (“to stink”) and suffiō (“to fumigate”).^[2] De Vaan thinks that, if it belongs with fūmus (“smoke”) and suffiō, it was derived from a verb ⟨*-fiō⟩ after that verb had already taken the form ⟨*fi-⟩.^[4] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Italic *fūje- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂-.^[1] De Vaan reports that Ernout and Meillet took the masculine to be older and the neuter to be due to stercus (“dung”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Cato,^[4][5] in the sense of dung or manure.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It is the dung of animals, especially as used for manure or fuel.^[2] Lucilius has the dung of a stable, Livy cow dung, Pliny the Elder that of goats, sheep and donkeys, and Virgil tells farmers to soak dry ground with rich dung.^[3] Virgil also uses it of filth in general.^[3][6] Tertullian uses it figuratively, of the filth of desire.^[6] In British Medieval Latin it also meant a dunghill, land being manured, and a substance in alchemy.^[7] It survives in Italian fimo, and through Vulgar Latin in Old French fien and Catalan fem.^[1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato, “dung, manure”.^[6][5]
• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of the dung of a stable.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, of manure and of filth.^[3][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm, of the stench of a prison.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Dung, excrement of animals, especially as manure or fuel.^[2][3]
2. Filth, dirt; figuratively, moral filth.^[3][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A dunghill; land being manured.^[7]

Related words

• suffiō
• fūmus
• stercus

Usage notes

The OLD notes that the masculine is not clearly attested before Late Latin, while Apuleius has the feminine ablative liquida fimo.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c 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