Etymologically
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populeus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [poːˈpʊ.ɫe.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [poˈpuː.le.us][1]

Forms

pōpuleus (feminine pōpulea, neuter pōpuleum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Some manuscripts of Valerius Flaccus and the Vulgate have pup-.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin pōpulus2 (“poplar”) + -eus.[3][2][1] De Vaan finds no etymology for pōpulus2; Ancient Greek πτελέα (pteléa, “elm”) shares /p/ and /l/ with it, but no regular correspondence can be found.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ennius,[5] whose Annals have it of poplar foliage, quoted by Ausonius;[6] the TLL calls Ennius probable and finds it certainly from Virgil, Horace and Ovid on.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means of or belonging to a poplar, and arbor pōpulea is a poplar tree:[3] Virgil has poplar leaves and poplar shade, and Horace a poplar wreath.[6] It also means consisting of poplars, as Lucan's river whose banks were shaded by a crown of poplars,[3] and the OLD notes its use of the sisters of Phaethon who were turned into poplars.[3] The TLL finds it often in the poets.[2]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius, of poplar foliage.[6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of poplar leaves and shade.[6][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of a poplar wreath.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a poplar, poplar-.[3][6][1]
  2. Consisting of poplars.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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 d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press