fuligo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [fuːˈliː.ɡoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [fuˈliː.ɡo]^[1]

Forms

fūlīgō f (genitive fūlīginis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a Latin derivative, with the suffix seen in -īgō, of an i-stem Proto-Italic *fūli- (“smoke”), Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂-li- (“smoke, dust”), perhaps from an adjective *dʰuh₂-lo- “smoking, dusty”.^[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit धूलि (dhūli-, “dust”), Lithuanian dūlis (“smoke used in bee-keeping”) and Latvian dūlis.^[2][3] It belongs with fūmus “smoke”.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character has a face smeared with soot.^[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant soot, as Cicero's image of a face wiped clean of soot, and also thick smoke, as Quintilian's soot of night work, and a black dye for the eyebrows, as in Juvenal.^[3][6][4] It was also used figuratively of obscurity or a stain.^[6]

In Medieval Latin it was soot used as a cosmetic and in medicine, and filth of any kind.^[7] It survives in Italian fuliggine, Portuguese fuligem and Romanian funingine.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a sooty face.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of soot wiped away.^[4][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of the soot of lamps.^[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Soot.^[3]
2. Thick smoke.^[6]
3. A black dye for the eyebrows.^[6]
4. (figurative) Obscurity; a stain.^[6][7]

Word family

• fuliginatus
• fūlīgineus
• fūlīginōsus

Related words

• fūmus
• suffiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press