Etymologically
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primaevus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word primaevus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Catullus
Ultimate origin
Latin (prīmus,aevum)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [priːˈmae̯.wʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [priˈmɛː.vus][1]

Forms

prīmaevus (feminine prīmaeva, neuter prīmaevum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from prīmus “first” and aevum “age” with -us, and the TLL notes that poets formed compounds in ⟨-aevus⟩ on Greek models.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Catullus.[4] Köbler dates Catullus 81/79–52/50 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant in the first period of life, young, youthful, as of Helenor in Virgil, and Lewis & Short call it poetic and Late Latin.[2][5][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means youthful.[7] Medieval Latin used it for primitive, primeval, principal, and the neuter for youth.[8] British Medieval Latin used it of the first age of life and of the world.[9]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.[4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Young, youthful.[2][5]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Primeval, primitive.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Primaevus.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/primaevus. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·