ovis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɔ.wɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.vis]^[1]

Forms

ovis f (genitive ovis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *owi-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃éu-i- (“sheep”).^[2] Some scholars reconstruct initial *h₂- instead, setting aside the h- of Armenian, and Wiktionary gives both *h₂ówis and *h₃éwis.^[2][1] That Latin keeps o- rather than a- fits Vine's view that stressed *ów- was not unrounded.^[2]

It is cognate with Umbrian uvem (accusative),^[2] and with Old Irish ói, Sanskrit अवि (ávi-), Ancient Greek ὄϊς (óïs), Lithuanian avìs and Old Church Slavonic овьца (ovьca), all "sheep", and Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂 (awistr, “sheepfold”).^[2] English ewe is a cognate.^[1][3]

Varro counted it among animal names formed from the animals' cries,^[4] and Isidore of Seville derived the word from oblātiō "offering", because sheep were sacrificed.^[4] Priscian compared the Aeolic Greek form written with digamma.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus (c. 250–184 BC),^[2][5] who speaks of scabby and bare sheep (ovēs scabrae, glabrae).^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a sheep of either sex, and in contrast with ariēs a ewe.^[7] It was occasionally masculine: Varro has ovis mās, a ram, and Ovid ovis sēmimās, a wether.^[6][8] Plautus used it as an insult for a simpleton, and Tibullus for wool.^[8] Pliny the Elder records ovis fera, "wild sheep", as a name of the giraffe.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for sheep and as a term of abuse.^[6][8][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence has the proverb "to entrust the sheep to the wolf".^[8][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses ovis as a masculine.^[6][5]
• c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus uses it for wool.^[8][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder records ovis fera as a name of the giraffe.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheep, ram or ewe.^[7][6]
2. A ewe, as opposed to a ram.^[7]
3. ovis fera: the giraffe.^[7]
4. (poetic) wool.^[8]
5. (figurative, insult) A simpleton.^[8]

Word family

• ovīle
• ovillus
• oviāria
• suovetaurīlia

Related words

• ōpiliō
• English ewe

Usage notes

Ovem lupō committere, "to entrust the sheep to the wolf", meant to put someone in charge of what he will destroy.^[6][8] The word is usually feminine, rarely masculine.^[7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn