Etymologically
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fomentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [foːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [foˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

fōmentum n (genitive fōmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin foveō (“to warm, cherish”) + -mentum, contracted from an older ⟨*fovimentum⟩.[2][3][1] De Vaan, following Schrijver, derives it from ⟨*fowe-mentum⟩ and traces foveō to Proto-Italic *foχweje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰogʷʰ-eie- (“to burn”), comparing Sanskrit दहति (dáhati, “burns”) and Lithuanian dègti (“to burn”).[4] Festus derived it from warming, and a scholiast on Horace says that fomenta are so called because they warm the sickness.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first, figuratively: pain is usually soothed by the remedies of patience and fortitude.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a soothing application, hot or cold, a compress or poultice, usually in the plural: Horace has someone who prepares poultices and asks the doctor to revive a sick man, and Celsus prescribes warm applications.[2][3] Figuratively it is a remedy, solace or alleviation, as in Cicero.[2] It is also wood for kindling, like fōmes.[2][1] In Medieval Latin it is fuel and a stimulus or incentive.[7] Church Latin glosses it poultice.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the remedies of patience.[2][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of poultices for the sick.[2][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus of warm applications.[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A warm or soothing application, compress, poultice, fomentation; usually plural.[2][3][8][1]
  2. A remedy, solace, alleviation.[2][1]
  3. Wood for kindling, tinder;[2][1][7] (Medieval Latin) fuel.[2][1][7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A stimulus, incentive.[7]

Word family

  • fōmentō
  • fōmentātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson