gemmeus

Forms

gemmeus (feminine gemmea, neuter gemmeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin gemma (“bud; precious stone”) + -eus.^[2][1] De Vaan takes “bud, sprout” to be the original meaning of gemma and reconstructs Proto-Italic *gebmā- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵeb-m- (“sprout, bud”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Varro and Cicero:^[4] Varro speaks of a jewelled horse ornament and saddle-cloths, and Cicero, in the Verrines, of a ladle made of precious stone.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its first senses are “made of precious stone” and “set with jewels”: Seneca has jewelled furniture, Ovid the jewelled yoke of the Sun's horses, Martial a jewelled ceiling, and Ulpian, in the Digest, vessels set with gems.^[2][4] Poets and later prose writers use it of things that glitter like jewels: Phaedrus of a peacock's tail, Martial of peacocks, Pliny the Younger of meadows bright with flowers and of a channel of water, and Calpurnius of a sparkling spring.^[2][5] Pliny the Elder probably uses it of a root's round, gem-like shape, and Martial speaks of a rumour that carries him on a jewelled wing.^[2][6]

In Late Latin it could mean “precious” of teaching or example.^[4] Medieval writers use it of jewelled vessels and of the heavenly palace, and figuratively of something splendid;^[7][8] medieval German sources also have sal gemmeum for rock salt.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of a jewelled horse ornament.^[4][9]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions a ladle made of precious stone.^[2][9]
• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of a peacock's glittering tail.^[2][9]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian speaks of vessels set with gems.^[2][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Set with precious stones, jewelled.^[2][5]
2. Made of precious stone.^[2][6]
3. (poetic) Glittering as if with jewels, sparkling.^[2][5]
4. Shaped like a gem.^[6][10]
5. (Late Latin) Precious, excellent.^[4][7]
6. (Medieval Latin, in sal gemmeum) Of rock salt.^[7]

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
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 c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.