Etymologically
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ovile

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔˈwiː.ɫɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [oˈviː.le][1]

Forms

ovīle n (genitive ovīlis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ovis (“sheep”) + -īle, the neuter of the adjective ovīlis used as a noun.[2][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of ovis, which goes back to Proto-Italic *owi- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃eu-i- (“sheep”); he notes that some scholars start from initial ⟨*h₂o-⟩ instead.[3] Cognates of the noun include Umbrian uvem (“sheep”), Sanskrit अवि (ávi-, “sheep, ram”) and Ancient Greek ὄις (óïs, “sheep”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato uses it first, telling the farmer to clean the cattle stall, the sheepfold and the farmyard.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a pen for sheep, a sheepfold;[5][2] Virgil has the wolf that does not prowl around the folds,[5][2] and Ovid uses it of a fold for goats.[5] It is also the name of an enclosure in the Campus Martius where the people voted, otherwise called the Saepta: Livy has a private meeting held there.[2][5] In the Vulgate it is the fold of Christ, the Church (John 10).[5] Stelten gives "sheepfold" for Church Latin.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato of cleaning the sheepfold.[2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of the wolf prowling round the folds.[5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the voting enclosure in the Campus Martius.[2]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate of the fold of Christ.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pen for sheep, a sheepfold; also a fold for goats.[2][5][1]
  2. An enclosed space in the Campus Martius where votes were cast, the Saepta.[2][5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The fold of Christ, the church.[5]

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 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson