fluvialis

Forms

fluviālis (neuter fluviāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fluvius (“river”) + -ālis,^[2][1][3] and fluvius is a derivative of fluō (“to flow”),^[4][3] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bhleuH- (“to flow (over)”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Virgil has it first,^[5] of the reed that grows by rivers in the Georgics and of river waters in the Aeneid.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

It always meant of, in or from a river: Ovid has river waters and a river duck, Columella contrasts river water with rainwater and names a river fish lupus fluviālis, and Palladius has river sand.^[6][8][7] Ambrose calls the hippopotamus equus fluviālis, “river horse”.^[8]

Italian fluviale continues it,^[7] and English took it over in the late 14th century as fluvial.^[3]

Timeline

• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of river reeds and river waters.^[6][7][5]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of river waters and a river duck.^[6][8][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella contrasts river water with rainwater.^[6][8][5]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose calls the hippopotamus a river horse.^[8][5]
• end of 4th/beginning of 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of river sand.^[6][5]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as fluvial.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, in or from a river, fluvial.^[2][6]

Related words

• fluvius
• flumen

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b 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 f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn