mulio

Forms

mūliō m (genitive mūliōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin mūlus (“mule”) + -iō.^[2][1] De Vaan traces mūlus to Proto-Italic *musklo- or ⟨*mukslo-⟩ and thinks it a loanword that reached Europe from Asia Minor;^[3] he compares Ancient Greek μύκλος (múklos, “lascivious; pack-mule”) and Albanian mushk (“mule”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first,^[4][3] in the Mostellaria: muleteers have pack-mules.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a mule driver, or a driver of a mule carriage,^[2][5] and Lewis & Short note that it is mostly early or post-Augustan.^[6] Caesar has muleteers in helmets riding round the hills to look like cavalry.^[2][6] Plancus calls Ventidius a mūliō as an insult in a letter to Cicero,^[5] and Pliny the Elder, citing Cicero, has a muleteer of the army bakery.^[5] Seneca's Hercules has walked more places than any muleteer, and Juvenal has a consul acting as his own muleteer.^[2] Suetonius says Vespasian was given it as a nickname, because he had made money by trading.^[6][2] Varro has the saying “more tongue-tied than my muleteer”.^[6] Pliny the Elder also uses it of a gnat that attacks bees.^[2][6] In British medieval Latin it is a mule driver, a keeper of mules, and in glosses a groom.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of muleteers with pack-mules.^[2][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar, of muleteers made to look like cavalry.^[2][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of a gnat.^[2][4]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius, as a nickname of Vespasian.^[2][4]
• Medieval Latin – A groom, horse servant.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A muleteer, mule driver; the driver of a mule carriage.^[2][6][5][1]
2. A gnat-like insect that attacks bees.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A keeper of mules; a groom.^[7]

Word family

• mūliōnius

Related words

• mūlus
• mūla

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c 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