flamma

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫam.ma]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈflam.ma]^[1]

Forms

flamma f (genitive flammae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flagmā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥g-mh₂- (“flame”), from the root of flagrō “to blaze”.^[2][1][3] The OLD compares Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame, inflammation”) and Latvian blāzma (“gleam”).^[4] Isidore of Seville explained it from flātus, the blast of the bellows.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.^[2][6] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a flame, usually in the plural or collectively, as in Cato and Lucretius, fire as destroyer, as Ennius' shrines burnt by flame, a conflagration, and a torch or firebrand.^[4] It was the fire of the sun and stars, and a fiery gleam, as Virgil's helmet spewing flames.^[4] Livy has flammā ferrōque “with fire and sword”.^[7]

In Medieval Latin it was also the heat of fever, a star, and the fire of strife or of divine grace.^[8] It survives in Italian fiamma and Spanish llama.^[1] Through Anglo-French flaume it is the source of English flame in the mid-14th century, and through Provençal flama of English flamingo.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of shrines destroyed by fire.^[4][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a flame.^[4][6]
• mid-14th century – English flame is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flame.^[4]
2. Fire (as destroyer).^[4]
3. A blaze, conflagration.^[4]
4. A torch, firebrand.^[4]
5. The fire of the sun or stars.^[4]
6. A fiery gleam.^[4]

Word family

• flammābundus
• flammāris
• flammārius
• flammeus
• flammicomans
• flammicomus
• flammicremus
• flammifer
• flammigena
• flammiger
• flammigero
• flammigō

Related words

• flagrō
• flammō
• flammula
• īnflammō
• English flame
• English flamingo

Usage notes

Flamma was also a Roman cognomen, in Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.^[7][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com