puellaris

Forms

puellāris (neuter puellāre); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin puella (“girl”) + -āris.^[2][1] De Vaan explains puella as from ⟨*puere-la⟩, “little girl”, a diminutive of puer (“boy”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *puwero-; the further connection with Proto-Indo-European *ph₂u-ero- (“smaller”) is uncertain.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Ovid,^[4] who has it six times;^[5] in the Fasti the picking of flowers draws on the girlish minds of Proserpina and her companions.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means of, befitting or typical of a girl or young woman,^[2] whether of the body, as Ariadne's girlish feet in the sand or Europa's feet in the Fasti,^[5][7] or of the mind and age: Tacitus and Quintilian speak of girlish years, Quintilian of his young wife.^[6][7] Pliny the Elder describes a puellāre augurium that young wives used to foretell the sex of their child,^[6][7] and Pliny the Younger speaks of girlish sweetness.^[6] Jerome uses it about eleven times.^[5] Prudentius applies it to the Virgin's blood in the conception of Christ.^[5]

In medieval Latin it describes nuns, and the neuter puellāre is a nunnery.^[8] British writers use it of girls' eyes and appearance and of the Virgin Mary.^[9]

Timeline

• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the minds of Proserpina and her companions.^[5][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes a girls' augury.^[6][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of his young wife's girlish age.^[7][4]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it often.^[5][4]
• 813 – A council uses it of nuns.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, befitting or typical of a girl; girlish, maidenly.^[2][6]
2. Youthful, of young women.^[6][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of nuns;^[8][4] puellāre (neuter as noun), a nunnery.^[8][4]

Word family

• puellāriter

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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c 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