Etymologically
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remus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈreː.mʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɛː.mus][1]

Forms

rēmus m (genitive rēmī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *rē(s)mo- (“oar”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁-(s)mo- (“oar”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“to row”).[2][1] The spellings with ⟨-resmo-⟩ on the Columna Rostrata may show *rēsmo-.[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρετμόν (eretmón, “oar”), Sanskrit अरित्र (arítra, “oar”), Lithuanian ìrti (“to row”) and Old English rōwan (“to row”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Livius Andronicus uses it.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was an oar, as Caesar's ships driven by oars, and rēmīs “by rowing”, as Lucilius' rowing round the promontory of Minerva.[3][4] Ad rēmum dare was to assign a man as an oarsman, and in poetry the oars stood for the rowers.[3] Its derivatives were rēmex “oarsman”, birēmis and trirēmis, ships with two and three banks of oars.[2]

It survives as Italian remo, French rame and Spanish remo.[1] English row “to propel with oars” is a cognate.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius speaks of rowing.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of oars.[4][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses ad rēmum dare.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An oar, rēmīs, by rowing.[3][6]
  2. (plural, poetic) Rowers.[3]

Word family

  • birēmis
  • rēmex
  • rēmipedus
  • rēmipēs
  • rēmivagus
  • rēmulus
  • trirēmis
  • citirēmis
  • quīnquerēmis
  • septemrēmis
  • septiremis
  • undecirēmis
  • ratis
  • English row

Usage notes

Remus, with a short /e/, was the brother of Romulus.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press