glomus

Forms

glomus n (genitive glomeris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is related to globus “ball”.^[1][2][3] Wiktionary suggests Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to form into a ball”), with unclear morphology, and Köbler Proto-Indo-European *glem- (“lump”).^[1][4] The OLD compares Old Irish glomar (“bridle”) and Old English clam (“bond”).^[5] Lucretius has ⟨glōmus⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of a ball-shaped mass.^[5] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a ball-shaped mass, especially a ball of yarn or thread, as in Lucretius, Horace and Pliny the Elder, a word Lewis and Short call very rare.^[5][2][6] Festus says it was also a sacred cake.^[6][5]

British Medieval Latin used it for a round mass and a ball of thread, with Late Latin forms glomus, -ī and Medieval Latin glomer.^[7] It survives in Italian ghiomo and gomitolo.^[1]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a ball-shaped mass.^[5][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a ball of wool.^[2][4]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a ball of yarn.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ball; a ball of yarn.^[5]
2. A sacred cake.^[5]

Word family

• glomerarius
• glomerō
• glomerōsus

Related words

• globus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ 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