rivulus

Forms

rīvulus m (genitive rīvulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive, formed from Latin rīvus (“stream, brook”) + -ulus.^[2][1] The spelling ⟨rīvolus⟩ also occurs.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first record is Cicero.^[4] Lewis & Short note that Cicero uses it only figuratively, while he uses rīvus for real streams:^[5] he speaks of a far from thin “rivulet” of learning that flowed from Greece into Rome,^[5] and in the De oratore calls it the mark of a slow mind rivulos consectari, fontis rerum non videre, “to chase the little streams and not see the springs of things”.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, a small stream or rivulet, is found in Varro and Apuleius,^[8] and the OLD adds a small channel or gutter, in Apuleius' description of an urn with a long spout.^[2] In the Vulgate and in Prudentius it is a brook or a rill of water.^[5] British Medieval Latin used it for streams issuing from springs, tributaries and mill streams, and sometimes without any diminutive force for a river.^[9]

It lives on in Italian rivolo,^[1][6] and English rivulet is perhaps from Italian rivoletto, a diminutive of rivolo.^[10]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it figuratively of a small stream of learning.^[4][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a thin brook in his work on agriculture.^[8][4]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of brooks and of the spout of an urn.^[2][8][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of rivuli aquarum, “rills of water”.^[5][8][4]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius names the rivulus of the Almo.^[5][4]
• 1580s – English has rivulet, perhaps through Italian.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small stream, brook or rivulet, also of other liquids; often figurative.^[2][5]
2. A small channel or gutter.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A mill stream or tributary; also a river.^[9]

Related words

• rīvālicius
• rīvālis
• rīvālitās
• rīvātim
• rīvō
• rīvus
• English rivulet

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com