pelvis

Forms

pēlvis f (genitive pēlvis); third declension^[1] The OLD heads it as peluis, and Gaffiot has both pēlvis and pēluis.^[2][3] In the oldest texts it has three syllables, pēlu-is.^[4] The accusative is pelvim, the ablative pelvī or pelve.^[5]

Etymology

The origin is unknown: de Vaan finds no convincing etymology.^[4] Following Nussbaum, he takes the old trisyllabic stem to reflect a stem Proto-Italic *pēlVwi- rather than *pēlwi-.^[4] He compares Sanskrit पल्वल (palvala-, “pond, pool”), Ancient Greek πελίκη (pelíkē, “cup”) and, with a query, πέλλα (pélla, “milk pail”);^[4] the OLD compares पालवी (pālavī) and the same Greek word.^[2] Wiktionary and Köbler tentatively connect it with Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“container”).^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comic poet Caecilius Statius (230/220–168 BC) and Cato (234–149 BC) are the first to use it, of a basin: Cato lists one among the vessels of a farm.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a shallow bowl or basin, usually of metal, of bronze, silver or gold,^[2][5] and Laberius has the proverb of falling in love like a cockroach falling into a basin.^[2]

Medieval British Latin kept the sense of a basin, often of silver in inventories,^[7] and a charter of 1207 uses it for a dry measure of oats.^[8] Modern Latin took the word for the basin-shaped cavity of the bones of the hip, and English borrowed it with that sense in the 1610s.^[9]

Timeline

• 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius Statius uses it of a basin.^[2][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato lists a basin among a farm's vessels.^[2][4][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy mentions a golden basin.^[2][6]
• 1207 – A charter uses it for a dry measure of oats.^[8]
• 1610s – English borrows the Modern Latin anatomical term.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A shallow bowl or basin, usually of metal.^[2][5][10]
2. (Medieval Latin) A dry measure, for oats.^[8]
3. (New Latin, anatomy) The basin-shaped cavity formed by the bones of the hip.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson