pascuum

Forms

pāscuum n (genitive pāscuī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the neuter of pāscuus (“used for pasture”), used as a noun.^[2][3][4] De Vaan lists pāscuus (from Plautus) among the derivatives of pāscō (“to feed, pasture”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *pā̆ske/o- and Proto-Indo-European *p(e)h₂-sk-e/o-, from the root Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect, herd”).^[5] He compares Ancient Greek ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”) and Lithuanian piemuõ (“shepherd”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites it from Cicero's speeches on the agrarian law, and Lewis & Short from Varro, of green pasture.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a piece of grazing land, a pasture, and is usually plural, pāscua.^[2][3][7] Pliny the Elder uses it of lands yielding revenue to the Roman people, and the Digest speaks of a wood set aside for pasturing flocks.^[6] Virgil, Ovid and Livy use the plural.^[7] In Tertullian, the Vulgate and Augustine a feminine pāscua, -ae, “pasture, fodder”, also occurs.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of pasture land.^[6][8]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of green pasture.^[3][8]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of public lands yielding revenue.^[6][8]
• 390–406 AD – the Vulgate has the feminine pāscua.^[4][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pasture, grazing land; usually plural.^[2][3][1]
2. Public land yielding revenue to the Roman people.^[6]
3. Pasturage, fodder for animals.^[6][4]

Word family

• pascuosus

Related words

• pāscō
• pābulum
• pāstor

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de