Etymologically
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iuventus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [jʊˈwɛn.tuːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [juˈvɛn.tus][1]

Forms

iuventūs f (genitive iuventūtis); third declension[1] It is also written juventūs; inscriptions have iov- and iuen-.[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin iuvenis (“young”) + -tūs.[3][2][1] De Vaan finds it older than iuventa and iuventās, and traces iuvenis to Proto-Italic *juwen- (“young”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂iu-h₁en- (“having vital force, young”), cognate with Sanskrit युवन् (yúvan, “young”) and Lithuanian jaunas (“young”).[4] Wiktionary compares Proto-Celtic *yuwantūts (“youth”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] whose parasite says iuventūs nōmen fēcit Pēniculō mihī, “the young men named me Peniculus”.[3]

Semantic evolution

Iuventūs is first “the young men” collectively, and especially the men of military age, the soldiery (Ennius: accēdit mūrōs Rōmāna iuventūs).[3][1] Prīnceps iuventūtis was a title of leaders of the knights, later of the emperor's sons.[3] Poets use it of young animals (Virgil of a young swarm of bees).[3] It is also “the age of youth”, reckoned from twenty to forty, and its qualities (Cicero: things done by youth and strength), and as a goddess, Iuventūs, Youth.[3][5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: iuventūs nōmen fēcit Pēniculō mihī.[3][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: accēdit mūrōs Rōmāna iuventūs.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the deeds of youth.[3][7]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of young bees.[3][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Young men, the youth.[3][5][1]
  2. Men of military age, the soldiery.[3]
  3. The young (of animals).[3]
  4. The age of youth; youthful vigour.[3][5][1]

Proper noun

  1. Iuventūs, the goddess of youth.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de