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funis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word funis

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Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Cato

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfuː.nɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfuː.nis][1]

Forms

fūnis m (genitive fūnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2] De Vaan suggests Proto-Italic *χwoini-, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰoyH-ni- (“rope”), an o-grade form of the root of fīlum “thread”, which is close in meaning.[3] Wiktionary gives *fūdnis from *bʰendʰ- “to bind”, as Lewis & Short had suggested *fudnis.[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato, who lists ropes to be mended.[3][5][2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a rope or cable, as the ropes with which thieves tried to pull down a statue in Cicero.[2] A rope stretched for acrobats gave Horace his image of the poet walking the tightrope.[2] It was used in proverbs: Horace's man who struggles now on a tight, now on a slack rope, and fūnem sequī potius quam dūcere, to follow the rope rather than lead.[2][6]

In medieval Latin it was also a share of an inheritance and a land measure.[7] Its diminutive fūniculus gave funicle and English funicular in the 1660s, and fūnis with ambulāre gave English funambulist “tightrope walker” in 1793.[8]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato lists ropes to be mended.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero tells of thieves pulling at a statue with ropes.[2][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the poet on a tightrope.[2][5]
  • 1660s – English funicular is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A rope, cable.[2]
  2. A tightrope.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A share of an inheritance; a land measure.[7]

Word family

  • fūnālis
  • fūnambulus
  • fūnārius
  • fūnerēpus
  • fūnētum
  • fūnicula
  • fūniculus
  • fīlum
  • English funicular
  • English funambulist

Usage notes

Döderlein says that fūnis is a thick rope for drawing and pulling, while restis is a thinner rope for tying and hanging, and laqueus the noose at its end.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Funis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/funis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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