puerulus

Forms

puerulus m (genitive puerulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive from Latin puer (“boy”) + -ulus.^[2][3][1] The base goes back to Proto-Italic *puwero-; de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *ph2u-ero- (“smaller”), but since this would probably have developed differently in Latin, he suggests that the noun may have been built more recently to the Proto-Italic root *pau- (“small, young”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cicero,^[5][6] who speaks contemptuously of pampered young slave boys chosen from the most elegant households.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It meant a small boy,^[2][3] and specifically a young slave boy.^[2][7] Seneca speaks of unhappy young slaves,^[7] Valerius Maximus uses it of a little boy,^[7][6] and Apuleius uses it repeatedly of Sicinius Pudens in his Apology.^[7]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of young slave boys.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of young slaves.^[7][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it in the Apology.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little boy.^[2][3]
2. A young slave boy.^[2][3]

Related words

• puer
• puerculus
• puella

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon 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 Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn