pecus

pecus¹ livestock

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.kus]^[1]

Forms

pecus n (genitive pecoris); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The collective noun is inherited from Proto-Italic *pekos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péḱos (“livestock; what is fleeced”).^[1][2] It is related to pecū “cattle”, from *peḱu-.^[1][2] The OLD compares Ancient Greek πέκος (pékos, “fleece”), and Lewis & Short compare Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu, “property”), German ⟨Vieh⟩ and English fee.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Livius Andronicus, whom he dates 280/260–before 200 BC, and the OLD's first citation is from Cato.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It was farm animals collectively, livestock, especially sheep and cattle, as in Cato; in the plural farm and domestic animals, as in Caesar; and in the singular one animal, as in Accius.^[3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was sheep, cattle, a herd.^[6] Wiktionary notes derogatory uses for a mindless crowd.^[1] British Medieval Latin used it for a domestic animal.^[7]

Timeline

• 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^[5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of livestock.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar uses the plural.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Livestock, cattle, sheep (collectively).^[3]
2. (plural) Farm animals, (singular) one animal.^[3]
3. (figurative) A herd of people, rabble.^[1]

Word family

• pecorālis
• pecorōsus
• pecusculum
• pecorārius

pecus² single animal

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.kʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.kus]^[1]

Forms

pecus f (genitive pecudis); third declension^[1] Accius, Sisenna and Cicero have a neuter plural pecuda, and Ennius uses it as masculine.^[3][4]

Etymology

The single beast is formed on the same root as pecū, with a stem in ⟨-ud-⟩ whose origin de Vaan finds unclear.^[3][2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC, and the OLD's first citation is from Plautus.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

It was a single animal of the farm, a head of livestock, as in Plautus and Cicero, and an animal as opposed to a human being, a beast, as in Lucretius and Cicero's quantum nātūra hominis pecudibus antecēdit.^[3][8] Isidore says that pecus is every creature that lacks human speech and form.^[9]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was a single head of cattle, a beast, a brute.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^[3][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a beast.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A single farm animal, a head of cattle, a sheep.^[3][8]
2. A beast, brute.^[3][6]

Word family

• pecudalis
• pecudifer

Related words

• pecū
• pecuārius
• pecūnia
• pecūlium
• English fee

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
9. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).