Etymologically
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flaveo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfɫaː.we.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈflaː.ve.o][1]

Forms

flāveō (present infinitive flāvēre, perfect active flāvuī); second conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin flāvus (“yellow, golden”) + -eō, a stative verb.[2][3][4] De Vaan tentatively traces the adjective to Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-uo- (“yellow”), comparing Middle Irish blá (“yellow”) and the Germanic words for “blue”, but calls the link with the Germanic words hazardous.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first use is the participle in Catullus, flaventia arva, “golden fields”.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The TLL notes that the finite verb is found only in a few places (Ovid's Amores, Columella, Paulinus of Nola, Isidore); elsewhere it is the present participle.[3] Columella writes that the crop will turn golden with ripe ears,[8][9] and Ovid uses it of hair that is blond.[6] The participle flāvēns is used of wax, of sand, of hair and especially of ripe grain;[9][8] Virgil describes Clytius as flāvēns prīmā lānūgine mālās, “golden with the first down on his cheeks”.[8] Medieval writers still use it of golden metal and of golden cups.[10]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus has flāventia arva.[6][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses the participle of fields and of a young man's cheeks.[8][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of blond hair and of wax.[6][9][7]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of ripening grain.[8][7]
  • c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola uses the finite verb.[3][11][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To be yellow, be golden or blond.[2][8][9]

Usage notes

Conte warns not to confuse the infinitive flāvēre with flāvēre, a by-form of the perfect flāvērunt of flō, “to blow”.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  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 d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  11. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.