pulmentum

Forms

pulmentum n (genitive pulmentī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pelp-mento- according to de Vaan, a noun with the suffix of -mentum beside *pelp-m(e)n- (“meat”);^[2] the TLL likewise derives it from a stem with the suffix ⟨-men-⟩, following Leumann.^[3] Cognate with Umbrian pelmner (“of meat”), which shows that the first vowel was once /e/.^[2][3] The noun pulpa (“flesh”), which de Vaan derives from *pelp-ā- (“meat”), is related.^[2] The OLD calls it probably cognate with that noun, and Lewis and Short take it as contracted from pulpāmentum;^[4][5] the TLL says that neither the form nor the meaning of the root is certain.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[2][6] who uses it for food.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD takes it to be a small portion of meat or fish eaten to start a meal, a name later given to larger savoury dishes;^[4] Lewis and Short define it as anything eaten with bread, a relish, and more generally food.^[5] Horace has pulmenta bought with toil and food cut into single portions,^[5] and Apuleius uses it of a relish.^[5]

In Church Latin it is savoury meat or pottage.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for food.^[5][6]
• 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of food earned by toil.^[5][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of a relish eaten with bread.^[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small portion of meat or fish eaten as a starter; later a larger savoury dish.^[4]
2. Food in general.^[5]
3. A relish, sauce or condiment eaten with bread.^[5][1]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Savoury meat, pottage.^[7]

Word family

• pulmentāris
• pulmentārium

Related words

• pulpa
• pulpāmentum

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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson