Etymologically
Log in

passer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 03:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpas.sɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpas.ser][1]

Forms

passer m (genitive passeris); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3][1] Schrijver, followed by de Vaan, proposes Proto-Italic *pattro-, from Proto-Indo-European *pt-tro- (“flyer, bird”), from the root of penna “feather”, with a change from the second to the third declension.[4][1] Köbler suggests it may be imitative, and Lewis & Short derive it from *panser, from pandō.[5][6] The Appendix Probi corrects the popular form passar.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus, who uses it as a term of endearment.[4][5][8] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a small bird, in most cases taken to be the sparrow, but also other species, such as the pet bird of Catullus' girl.[2] Cicero recalls the sparrows by which Calchas foretold the years of the Trojan War.[2] Passer marīnus “sea sparrow” was the ostrich, as in Plautus, and passer alone was a flatfish, perhaps the flounder.[2]

It survives in Italian passero and Romanian pasăre “bird”, and Vulgar Latin forms gave Spanish pájaro and Portuguese pássaro.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as an endearment.[8][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus writes on his girl's sparrow.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero recalls the sparrows of Calchas.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sparrow; a small bird.[2]
  2. (term of endearment) Little sparrow.[8]
  3. passer marīnus, the ostrich.[2]
  4. A flatfish, perhaps the flounder.[2]

Word family

  • passercula
  • passerculus
  • passerīnus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
  8. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.