somniculus

Forms

somniculus m (genitive somniculī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin somnus (“sleep”) + -culus, a diminutive.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded in the Tironian notes (Notae Tironianae), meaning a short sleep.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word stayed rare.^[4] In British medieval Latin it meant a nap or doze, as in Herman the Archdeacon.^[3] Humanists used it too: Lorenzo Valla, in the Elegantiae, held that somniculōsus “sleepy” was derived from somniculus rather than from somnus, and Pontano addressed sleep as somnicule.^[7] Conte compares Italian sonnecchiare, “to doze”.^[8]

Timeline

• 500–9th century – Recorded in the Tironian notes.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little sleep, a nap or doze.^[4][5][3][2]

Word family

• somnīculōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier