Etymologically
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pauxillus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pau̯kˈsɪl.lʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [pau̯kˈsil.lus][1]

Forms

pauxillus (feminine pauxilla, neuter pauxillum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Manuscripts and editions also spell it pausillus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin paucus (“few, little”), a diminutive,[4][2] though Georges takes it as a diminutive of paullus (“little”).[3] De Vaan lists it from Naevius on among the derivatives of the first adjective, which he traces to Proto-Italic *pauko- (“few”) and Proto-Indo-European *peh₂u-.[5]

How it was formed is disputed.[5] Walde and Hofmann derive ⟨paullus⟩ from *pauk-slo- and this word from *paukslelo-, comparing āla (“wing”) beside axilla.[5] De Vaan objects that the suffix *-slo- otherwise makes only instrument nouns and only after consonant stems, and prefers Thurneysen's view that it is an analogical form made after ⟨paullus⟩, which in turn is *pau-re-lo-, from parvus (“small”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan finds it from Naevius on,[5] and Conte cites one of Naevius' comedies for it.[6]

Semantic evolution

It means little or small, and Lewis and Short call it mostly pre-classical.[2] Plautus uses it of a small matter, and Lucretius of tiny bones and seeds.[2][3] Solinus speaks of a small temple.[3]

The neuter pauxillum was used as a noun, a little: Plautus has ex pauxillō, little by little, and Apuleius a sip of a drink.[2][6] The ablative pauxillō means by a little, as in Afranius and Celsus,[2][3] and the accusative is an adverb, a little, in Plautus and in the Vulgate.[2][3] In the Vulgate's Genesis a speaker asks dā mihi pauxillum aquae ad bibendum, “give me a little water to drink”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a comedy.[6][5][7]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a small matter and has ex pauxillō, little by little.[2][7]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of tiny bones and seeds.[2][7]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus has the ablative pauxillō, by a little.[2][3][7]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses pauxillum for a little water.[2][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Little, small, tiny.[4][2]
  2. pauxillum (neuter, as a noun): a little, a small amount;[2][6] ex pauxillō, little by little.[2][6]
  3. pauxillō (ablative): by a little.[2][3]
  4. pauxillum (as an adverb): a little, slightly.[2][3]

Word family

  • pauxillātim
  • pauxillisper
  • pauxillitas
  • pauxillulus
  • pauxillum
  • perpauxillus

References

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