Etymologically
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omentum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [oːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [oˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

ōmentum n (genitive ōmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2] The OLD derives it from *ouimentum, from the root of induō “to put on”, as Walde and Hofmann did, but de Vaan sees no support for this in the meaning, and *owe-mento- would have given *ūmentum.[3][2] Ernout and Meillet suspected a borrowing, perhaps from a word like Umbrian umen (“ointment”), the Sabellic cognate of unguen “fat, ointment”, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃éngʷn̥ (“fat, butter”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Catullus.[2] Köbler dates Catullus 81/79 to 52/50 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the fatty membrane covering the intestines, the caul, and more generally fat, as Persius' sacrificial attendant whose belly shakes with fat, and then the bowels.[3][5][6] Celsus and Pliny the Elder use it in medicine, and Isidore of Seville calls it the membrane the Greeks name epíploon.[6][7]

In Medieval Latin it was the caul, glossed in Old English.[8] English omentum is a borrowing of it.[1]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.[2][4]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it in medicine.[6][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes it.[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The caul, the fatty membrane covering the intestines.[3]
  2. Fat.[5]
  3. The bowels, entrails.[6]

Word family

  • omentatus
  • unguen
  • English omentum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ 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