Etymologically
Log in

puer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpu.ɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpuː.er][1]

Forms

puer m (genitive puerī, feminine puera); second declension[1] Plautus and Caecilius also have puerus, and the old vocative is puere.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *puwero-, and de Vaan derives it from Proto-Indo-European *ph₂u-ero- (“smaller”), from the root of paucus “few”, or from a more recent Italic formation on the same root, “small, young”.[2] The Oxford Latin Dictionary compares Oscan puklum and Sanskrit पोत (pota-).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livius Andronicus uses it, and its feminine puera “girl”.[2] Köbler dates Livius Andronicus 280/260–before 200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

The Thesaurus thinks the oldest sense was a child of either sex; the word was later limited to boys, and puella was used for girls.[6] Naevius calls Proserpina “Ceres' child” (puer).[7] In Classical Latin it was a boy, a son, a boy favourite, in the plural children, and a young slave or servant, as Plautus' puere, cape chlamydem “boy, take the cloak”.[3]

In medieval Latin it was a servant, a slave, an armed retainer and a vassal, and puer rēgis was a royal agent.[8] In England the puer episcopus was the boy bishop of the season from Saint Nicholas' Day to Holy Innocents'.[9] English puerile comes from puerīlis.[10]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a young slave.[3][5]
  • 1660s – English puerile is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A boy; a child.[3][4]
  2. A son.[3]
  3. In the plural, children.[3]
  4. A young slave, servant.[3][1]
  5. A boy favourite.[3]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A retainer; a vassal, puer rēgis, a royal agent.[8]

Word family

  • puera
  • puerārius
  • puerāscō
  • pueraster
  • puerculus
  • puerigenus
  • puerīlis
  • puerīlitās
  • puerīliter
  • puerīnus
  • pueritia

Usage notes

Isidore derived it from pūritās “purity”, because the boy is pure and does not yet have a beard.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 h i 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. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  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
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).