homuncio

Forms

homunciō m (genitive homunciōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin homō (“human being”), formed with the suffix -iō on an unattested diminutive ⟨*homuncus⟩.^[2][3] De Vaan lists it with homullus and homunculus among the derivatives of homō, which he traces to Proto-Italic *χemō and Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰ(e)m-ōn (“earthling”), a derivative of the word for earth.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Terence,^[4][5] who has ego homuncio hoc non facerem?, “should I, a mere man, not do this?”^[6]

Semantic evolution

The OLD equates it with homullus, a little man or mere man.^[2] Georges describes it as a weak and lowly creature as opposed to the gods, and in Cicero's Academica a homuncio who values things besides virtue is set against a god.^[7][6] Augustus, as Suetonius reports, jokingly called Horace homuncionem lepidissimum, “a most charming little man”.^[6] Seneca, Petronius, Juvenal and Apuleius also use it, and Augustine in the Confessions.^[7][8] Medieval British writers use it of a mere man or poor creature, often of themselves, as Aldhelm does; of a sick child, a poor little fellow; and of a worthless fellow or a little man, a manikin.^[9]

Timeline

• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it in the Eunuchus.^[4][6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero sets a homuncio against a god.^[6][5]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius reports Augustus calling Horace a most charming little man.^[6][5]
• 639–709 AD – Aldhelm calls himself a misellus homuncio, a wretched little man.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little man, a mere man, a weak mortal as opposed to a god; a manikin.^[2][6][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A poor creature; of a child, a poor little fellow.^[9]
3. (Medieval Latin) A worthless fellow.^[9]

Related words

• homunculus
• homullus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d 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