Etymologically
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pluma

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɫuː.ma][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpluː.ma][1]

Forms

plūma f (genitive plūmae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably a noun in *-mo- from a verb, perhaps from a root Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to swim, float”) or *plewk-, so that it could go back to *plewmo- “flying”, *plowsmo- “flying instrument” or *plowksmo-.[2][1] In view of Old Prussian plauxdine (“featherbed”) and Lithuanian plùnksna (“feather”), Walde and Hofmann and Ernout and Meillet favour a form with *-smo-.[2] The TLL says the original form is unknown, so the origin is uncertain.[3] Isidore of Seville explained it as *pilūma, from pilus “hair”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a small soft feather, a feather, as Cicero's many-coloured feathers of a dove, the plumage of a bird, and a mass of plucked feathers, down, as Livy's cask filled with feathers.[6][7] In plūmā dormīre “to sleep on feathers” was luxury in Juvenal.[8] Döderlein distinguishes penna, a wing feather, from plūma, soft down.[9]

In Medieval Latin it also meant a pen, and was proverbial for lightness.[10][11] It survives in Italian piuma.[1] English plume came through Old French in the late 14th century.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a dove's feathers.[6][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a cask of feathers.[6][5]
  • late 14th century – English plume is recorded.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A feather, soft feather.[6][7]
  2. Plumage.[6]
  3. Feathers, down.[6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A pen.[10]

Word family

  • dēplūmis
  • implūmis
  • plūmācium
  • plumalis
  • plūmārius
  • plūmātilis
  • plūmeus
  • plūmiger
  • plūmipēs
  • plūmō
  • plūmōsus
  • plūmula

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com