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globulus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word globulus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
234–149 BC Cato More words from the 3rd century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin globus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin globus
English globe
Latin globulus
English globule
Spanish glóbulo
From the same root
English globalization ← globus
English global ← globe

Forms

globulus m (genitive globulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin globus (“ball, sphere”) + -ulus, a diminutive.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Köbler cite Cato's De agri cultura,[4][3] where it is a lump of food, a kind of dumpling.[4]

Semantic evolution

Varro also has it for a dish,[4] and in Pliny the Elder it is a small ball or globule.[2][4] Scribonius Largus uses it for a pill,[2][4] and Petronius speaks figuratively of “honeyed little balls of words” (mellitos verborum globulos).[2][4]

Medieval writers used it for a silkworm's cocoon, a bead and a bullet,[5] and in pharmacy for a pill or pastille;[6] ecclesiastical Latin had it for a button, bead or shot.[7] English globule (1660s) came through French.[8]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for a dumpling.[4][3]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro mentions it as a dish.[4][3]
  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it for a pill.[2][3]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius speaks of “little balls of words”.[2][3]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for small globules.[2][3]
  • 1660s – English borrows globule through French.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A little ball, a globule.[2][4]
  2. A ball of food, a dumpling.[4]
  3. (medicine) A pill.[2][4]
  4. (figurative) A rounded phrase.[2][4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A bead; a bullet; a silkworm's cocoon.[5]

Word family

  • globellum

References

  1. ^ a b 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 c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Globulus.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/globulus. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·