Etymologically
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iumentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [juːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [juˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

iūmentum n (genitive iūmentī); second declension[1] An archaic plural iouxmenta is read on the Forum cippus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably formed from the root of iungō (“to yoke, join”) with ⟨-s-⟩ and -mentum, as exāmen beside agmen.[3] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *jougsmnto-, built on an s-stem Proto-Indo-European *yéwg-os- (“yoked animals, team”) from the root *yewg- (“to yoke”).[2][1] Gellius reports that the old Romans named it from ⟨iungere⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author,[2] who has iūmenta dūcunt, “they lead the beasts”, in the Epidicus.[4] Köbler lists the Twelve Tables.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is an animal for pulling or carrying, a beast of burden, usually a horse, mule or ass as opposed to cattle.[3][4] Gellius says that the old word, as in the Twelve Tables, also meant a vehicle drawn by a team.[3][1]

Church Latin uses the plural for cattle.[6] In the Frankish laws and medieval Latin the word, also as a feminine iūmenta, meant a mare.[7][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of beasts led away.[4][2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the team that drew a carriage.[4][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius on the old sense “vehicle”.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A beast of burden, draught animal (horse, mule, ass).[3][1][4]
  2. (plural) Beasts of burden as a group, (Ecclesiastical Latin) cattle.[1][6]
  3. (archaic) A vehicle drawn by a team.[3][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A mare.[7][1]

Word family

  • iūmentārius

Usage notes

Döderlein counts iūmenta and armenta among the larger domestic beasts, as against the general word pecus.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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 e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper