Etymology and origin of the Latin word sparus
sparus1 hunting spear
- Confidence
- Probable
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius
- Inherited from
- Proto-Italic *sparo-
- Ultimate origin
- Proto-Italic *sparo-
Pronunciation
Forms
sparus m (genitive sparī); second declension[1] It also has a neuter form sparum.[2][3][4]
Etymology
The spear is inherited from Proto-Italic *sparo- (“spear”), from Proto-Indo-European *sprH-o- (“spear, beam”).[3] Its cognates are Germanic and Albanian nouns: Old Norse spjǫrr (“spear”), Old English spere (“spear”) and Old High German sper (“spear”), Old Norse sparri and Old High German sparro (“roof beam, pole”), and Albanian shparr (“oak”).[3][2][4][1] Because the word exists only as a noun in these three branches, de Vaan thinks it may be a loanword or the isolated remnant of a root that is otherwise lost.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan and Köbler first find it in Lucilius,[3][5] who has a neuter plural spara.[6]
Semantic evolution
It was a short hunting spear of country people;[4] Georges describes it from the ancient commentators as a wooden shaft with an iron head and a barb, used in war only as a makeshift weapon.[4] Varro and Sisenna mention it,[6] Sallust mentions spari among the weapons of Catiline's army,[6][7] and Livy and Virgil also use it, with Servius explaining the word in his note on Virgil.[6][4]
Medieval writers in Britain still used it for a kind of javelin or spear, and also for other pointed weapons such as a dagger.[8]
Timeline
- c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it.[3][6][5]
- 86–34 BC – Sallust mentions spari in Catiline's army.[6][7][5]
- 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Aeneid.[6][7][5]
- 1444 – An English record tells of a man struck and killed with a spear worth sixpence.[8]
Meanings
Noun
sparus2 sea bream
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Borrowing
- First attested
- 14–37 AD, Celsus
- Borrowed from
- Ancient Greek σπάρος
- Ultimate origin
- Ancient Greek σπάρος
Pronunciation
Forms
sparus m (genitive sparī); second declension[1]
Etymology
The fish is borrowed from Ancient Greek σπάρος (spáros, “sea bream”).[2][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Georges first finds it in Celsus.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
It was a small kind of sea bream;[2] Georges and Lewis & Short identify it with the gilt-head bream.[4][6] Pliny the Elder names it too, though Georges notes that the passage is now read ⟨sorus⟩.[4] The diminutive sparulus means the same fish.[2] It survives as Italian sparo,[1] and modern zoology uses it as the name of the genus Sparus.[1]
Timeline
- 14–37 AD – Celsus names the fish.[4][6][5]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names it, in a passage now read differently.[4][5]
Meanings
Noun
Word family
- sparulus
Related words
- English spear
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ 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
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Sparus.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sparus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
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