Etymologically
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pulvis

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpʊɫ.wɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpul.vis][1]

Forms

pulvis m (genitive pulveris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *pe/olaw(-is)- (“dust”).[2] De Vaan explains it as *pe/ol(V)w-is-, with a rare is-stem perhaps taken from cinis “ashes”.[2] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from Proto-Indo-European *pelH-u- (“chaff”), seen in Sanskrit पलाव (palā́va, “chaff”) and Lithuanian pẽlūs (“chaff”), but Schrijver objected that “dust” and “chaff” are not an obvious match.[2][3] De Vaan thinks this derivation possible through a sense “fine dust”.[2] The OLD calls it cognate with pollen “fine flour”.[3] Isidore of Seville derived it from pellō, since the wind drives it.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose character sees a footprint in the dust.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant dust on the ground, the dust of the racecourse or arena, so that Horace speaks of those who love to gather Olympic dust, and of the battlefield.[3] The dust of destruction was used of the remains of the dead, and any ground substance was a powder.[3] Isidore names pulvis Puteolanus, the volcanic earth of Puteoli used to build into the sea.[4] Ennius and Propertius make it feminine.[3]

In Medieval Latin it stood for a humble condition or worthlessness.[6] Its descendants include Italian polvere and Romanian pulbere.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus sees a footprint in the dust.[3][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the dust of Olympia.[3][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes the earth of Puteoli.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Dust.[3]
  2. The dust of the racecourse or arena; the field of exertion.[3]
  3. Dust as the remains of the dead.[3]
  4. A powder.[3]

Word family

  • pulverulentus
  • pulvīnus
  • *pulvus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ 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