Etymologically
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pollex

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔl.lɛks][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔl.leks][1]

Forms

pollex m (genitive pollicis); third declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][1] It was traditionally compared with Old Church Slavonic пальць (palĭcĭ, “finger”), Russian палец (pálec, “finger”), with influence from polleō “to be strong”, but de Vaan finds that this does not explain the Latin form.[2][3][1] He prefers Meier-Brügger's *por-lix-s “which is licked over”, from the root Proto-Indo-European *leiǵʰ- (“to lick”) of lingō, with the ending -lex perhaps taken from body parts such as vertex.[2] The ancient grammarian Ateius Capito, quoted by Macrobius, said it was named from its strength, because it is strong.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato.[2] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant the thumb, as Cicero tells of the Athenians who had the thumbs of the Aeginetans cut off, and Virgil's flower plucked by a girl's thumb, and also the big toe.[3] Pressing the thumb down was a sign of approval and turning it out a sign of disapproval, and in viticulture a pollex was a stump left by pruning or a knob on a tree.[3][4]

In Medieval Latin it was a measure of length, the inch.[7] Its descendants include French pouce and Italian pollice.[1]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero tells of the thumbs of the Aeginetans.[3][6]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of the big toe.[3][6]
  • Middle Ages – It is used as a measure, the inch.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The thumb.[3]
  2. The big toe.[3]
  3. A stump left by pruning; a knob on a tree.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An inch.[7]

Word family

  • pollicāris
  • *pollicāta

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill