spuma

Forms

spūma f (genitive spūmae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *spoimā- (“foam”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *spoHi-m- (“foam”).^[2] De Vaan explains the forms of the other languages as derivatives in *-m- and *-n- of a root Proto-Indo-European *spoHi- or *speh₃i-, in which the *-i- may be a present suffix; alternatively, with Matasović, a neuter stem in *-mn-.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit फेन (phéna-, “foam”), Lithuanian spáinė (“foam”), Old Prussian spoayno (“foam”), Old English fām (“foam”) and Old High German feim (“foam”).^[2][3] Lewis & Short derived it from spuō (“to spit”).^[4] Wiktionary relates it to pūmex (“pumice”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Ennius, who says of a horse that it drives out white foam.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

It is foam on water, especially the sea: Cicero mentions the Venus born from the foam.^[3] It is froth at the mouth of animals and people, and the froth of other liquids;^[3][4] Varro reports physicians who call milk the foam of blood.^[3][4] Technical phrases name substances: spūma argentī, litharge, which Virgil names among remedies for sheep, and spūma nitrī, which Ovid lists among cosmetics.^[3] Martial knows it as a hair dye, and Pliny the Elder uses it of the slime of snails.^[3] Church Latin glosses it foam.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius of a horse's foam.^[3][2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of the sea foam from which Venus was born.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil names spūma argentī.^[3][5]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of the slime of snails.^[3][5]
• late 14th century – English spume is borrowed from Latin, partly through Old French.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. Foam, froth, of the sea, of the mouth or of other liquids.^[3][4][6][1]
2. spūma argentī, litharge, lead monoxide.^[3]
3. spūma nitrī, a soda or potash salt used as a cosmetic or caustic.^[3]
4. A substance used as a hair dye.^[3]
5. The slime of snails; slime in general.^[3][1]

Word family

• spūmeus
• spūmifer
• spūmigena
• spūmiger
• spūmō
• spūmōsus

Related words

• pūmex
• English spume
• English foam

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com