formus

Forms

formus (feminine forma, neuter formum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *xʷormos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰormós (“warm”).^[2][1] The form could go back to ⟨*gʷʰormos⟩ or ⟨*gʷʰr̥mos⟩, but since no other language shows the zero grade, de Vaan prefers the first; the root varies between ⟨*gʷʰer-⟩ and ⟨*gʷʰor-⟩, perhaps after different verbs made from it.^[2]

Cognate with Sanskrit घर्म (gharmá-, “heat, glow”), Avestan garəma- (“warm; heat”), Old Armenian ջերմ (ǰerm, “warm”), Ancient Greek θερμός (thermós, “warm”), Old Prussian gorme (“heat”) and Latvian gar̂me (“warmth”), and perhaps Albanian zjarm (“heat”).^[2] The OLD also compares English warm.^[3]

Ancient grammarians knew it mainly as the supposed source of forceps and fornāx.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It was obsolete in classical times and is known only from grammarians and glossaries;^[4][5] the derived formidus “warm” is quoted from Cato by Festus' epitomator.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The grammarians who mention it, from Velius Longus to Isidore of Seville, do so to explain forceps and fornāx.^[4][6] Later glossaries render it as calidum, “warm”.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses the derived formidus.^[2][6]
• first half of the 2nd century AD – The grammarian Velius Longus mentions it.^[6][4]
• c. 560–636 – Isidore of Seville mentions it.^[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (archaic) Warm, hot.^[3][5][1]

Word family

• formidus

Related words

• forceps
• fornus
• fornāx

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de