nivalis

Pronunciation

• Classical: [nɪˈwaː.lɪs]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [niˈvaː.lis]^[1]

Forms

nivālis (neuter nivāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the stem ⟨niv-⟩ of nix (“snow”) with the suffix -ālis.^[2][1][3] Wiktionary traces nix to Proto-Italic *sniks (“snow”) and Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”); the OLD compares Ancient Greek νίφα (nípha, “snow”) and Welsh nyf (“snow”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] whose verse speaks of purifying the snowy hills on the Alban Mount.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is snowy or wintry, of weather and seasons, as Livy's snowy day and Horace's wintry breezes; transferred, it is icy, as Martial's icy kiss in midwinter.^[2][4] It is consisting of snow, as Horace's Hebrus bound in fetters of snow, and aqua nivālis, snow water.^[2] It is also covered with snow, snow-clad, as Pliny the Elder's snowy places, and white as snow, as Virgil's horses of snowy whiteness.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of snowy hills.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of snow-white horses.^[2]
• 65–8 BC – Horace of wintry breezes.^[2]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a snowy day.^[4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial of an icy kiss.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Snowy, wintry; icy cold.^[2][4][1]
2. Of snow;^[2] aqua nivālis: snow water.^[2]
3. Covered with snow, snow-clad.^[2][1]
4. White as snow.^[2]

Related words

• nivātus
• niveus
• nivōsus
• nix

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press