poples

Forms

poples m (genitive poplitis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It has no certain etymology.^[2][3][4] De Vaan rejects the idea that it was borrowed from a Sabellic outcome of Proto-Indo-European *kʷe/o-kʷlo-m (“neck”), since nothing shows it to be a loanword.^[2] The TLL reports a view that, as the knee is made for bending, it contains the ⟨-pl-⟩ of plicō “to fold” with a suffix as in circes, -itis, and a prefix or reduplication at the start.^[5] Wiktionary also mentions a root Proto-Indo-European *pal- (“to feel, touch, shake”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Accius,^[2][4] whose tragedy warns someone not to let weariness slow the running of their knees.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the knee joint or the knee, and in particular the back of the knee, the hock or ham: Virgil has Gyges cut down with a hamstring, and Livy hamstrings and thighs cut.^[3][6] Pliny the Elder says the elephant bends its knees inward like a man, and Columella has knees, hocks and legs.^[6] Lewis & Short compare suffrāgō.^[6] Church Latin glosses it knee.^[7]

Timeline

• 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of the running of the knees.^[3][2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil of a hamstrung warrior.^[3][4]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of hamstrings cut.^[6][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the elephant's knees.^[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The knee joint; the knee.^[3][6][1][7]
2. The back of the knee, hock, ham.^[3][6][1]

Related words

• suffrāgō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson