gumia

Forms

gumia m (genitive gumiae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][1] It is often explained as a borrowing from Umbrian, where Umbrian gomia and kumiaf mean “pregnant (sows)”;^[2][3][4][5] on this view the Latin word first meant “paunch, fat-belly”.^[6][5] De Vaan objects that the meaning is not the same, and lists it under Proto-Italic *gem-e/o- (“to be full, loaded”).^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek γέμω (gémō, “to be full (of)”) and γόμος (gómos, “freight, cargo”).^[2][3] Walde also mentions Stowasser's derivation from a Semitic word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucilius,^[2][4] meaning a glutton; one fragment, which the TLL lists as said of harlots, has gumiae vetulae “old gluttons”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It remained a rare word for a glutton or gourmand, used again by Apuleius and explained by the grammarians: Festus has it under ingluvies “gullet”, and Nonius glosses it as gulosi “gluttonous”.^[8][7][9] The dictionaries give it as masculine or feminine.^[3][8][10] Wiktionary lists Spanish gomia as its descendant.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it, in fragments quoted by Cicero and Nonius.^[2][8][4]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it in the Apology.^{[8][9][10][4]}
• 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus mentions it under ingluvies.^[8][9][4]
• end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD – Nonius explains it as gulosi.^[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A glutton, a gourmand.^[3][8][9]

Related words

• gula

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
6. ^ a b Walde, Alois (1906), Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier