Etymologically
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passum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpas.sũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpas.sum][1]

Forms

passum n (genitive passī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin pandō (“to spread out”): the neuter of its past participle ⟨passus⟩ “spread out (to dry), dried”, used as a noun with vīnum (“wine”) understood.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first author is Plautus,[4] who mentions it in the Pseudolus.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a wine made from dried grapes, what Wiktionary calls raisin wine or straw wine.[3][1] Varro and the other agricultural writers deal with it, and Virgil names it in the Georgics.[3][5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions it in the Pseudolus.[5][4][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro mentions it.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil names it in the Georgics.[5][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. raisin wine, wine made from dried grapes, straw wine.[2][3][5][1]

References

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