ovillus

Forms

ovīllus (feminine ovīlla, neuter ovīllum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] The spelling ovell- appears in an inscription of AD 202, and uv- in manuscripts of Pliny the Elder.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ovis (“sheep”) + -lus.^[3][2] The TLL compares bovīllus and suillus;^[2] Wiktionary takes it as a diminutive formation from ovīnus (“of sheep”), although that word is not attested until Serenus Sammonicus.^[1] De Vaan traces ovis to Proto-Italic *owi- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃eu-i- (“sheep”).^[4] Cognate with Umbrian uvem (“sheep”), Sanskrit अवि (ávi-, “sheep, ram”), Ancient Greek ὄϊς (óïs, “sheep”) and Lithuanian avìs (“sheep”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato is its first author:^[2][5] he uses it of sheep's cheese, cāseus ovillus.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The TLL finds it in prose from Cato, Varro and Livy on, above all in technical writers.^[2] Varro and Columella speak of pecus ovillum, sheep as livestock, and Pliny the Elder of sheep's milk.^[6][7] Livy has grex ovillus in an old formula.^[6][7] The feminine ovīlla was used as a noun for mutton, in Petronius and later in Priscian.^[3][7][8] Manuscripts sometimes confuse it with ovīlis.^[2]

In British Medieval Latin it is used of sheepskins, and the feminine as a noun meaning a little sheep, also figuratively of a member of Christ's flock.^[9]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of sheep's cheese.^[6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of sheep as pecus ovillum.^[6][5]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has grex ovillus in an old formula.^[6][5]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses ovīlla for mutton.^[3][5]
• 6th century AD – Priscian uses ovīlla for mutton.^[7][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of sheep; obtained from sheep.^[3][6]

Noun

1. ovīlla (feminine): mutton.^[3][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A little sheep; figuratively, a member of Christ's flock.^[9]

Related words

• ovis
• ovīle
• ovīnus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e 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 d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b 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