Etymologically
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puerulus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [puˈɛ.rʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [puˈɛː.ru.lus][1]

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]

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