Etymologically
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pulmo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpʊɫ.moː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpul.mo][1]

Forms

pulmō m (genitive pulmōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *plu-mōn, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *plu-mon- (“floating one, lung”), as de Vaan tentatively reconstructs it, with the zero grade of the root of the adjective Proto-Indo-European *pléu-mōn (“the floating one”) (lungs float on water) and a metathesis of ⟨plu-⟩ to ⟨pul-⟩;[2][1] Wiktionary likewise has ⟨*plumō⟩ with metathesis.[2][1] The TLL also explains it by an ablaut form ⟨*plu-mon-⟩ beside ⟨*pleu-mon-⟩, from which ⟨pulmōn-⟩ could arise by metathesis.[3] The other explanation in the handbooks, de Vaan reports, is a borrowing of Ancient Greek πλεύμων (pleúmōn, “lung”) with the same metathesis; against it, a long vowel ⟨*plūmō⟩ would be expected, and words for the lung are seldom borrowed.[2] Cognate with Sanskrit क्लोमन् (klomán-, “the right lung, (plural) the lungs”), the Greek word, Lithuanian plaũčiai (“lungs”) and Old Church Slavonic плюща (pljušta, “lungs”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[2][4] whose speaker complains in the Curculio that his kidneys ache, his lungs are torn and his liver is racked.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means the lung, in the singular or plural;[5][6] Lewis & Short note the plural for the two lobes of the lungs, and the organ was very important in haruspicy.[5][6] With marīnus Pliny the Elder uses it of a lung-like sea creature, apparently a kind of jellyfish.[5][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the lungs.[5][2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero describes the lungs.[6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the sea creature pulmō marīnus.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lung;[5][6][1] (plural) the lungs.[5][6][1]
  2. (with marīnus) A lung-like sea creature, apparently a kind of jellyfish.[5][1]

Word family

  • pulmonaceus
  • pulmōnārius
  • pulmōneus
  • pulmunculus
  • pulmōnālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press