ubertas

Forms

ūbertās f (genitive ūbertātis); third declension^[1] Coins and Ulpian also have ūberitās.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ūber (“fertile, rich”) + -tās.^[3][1] De Vaan derives the adjective from the noun ūber (“udder, teat”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *ouþ-r- and Proto-Indo-European *h₁ouHdʰ-r̥ (“udder”).^[4] Cognate with Sanskrit ऊधर् (ū́dhar, “udder”), Ancient Greek οὖθαρ (oûthar, “udder”) and Old English ūder (“udder”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Ennius.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is the productiveness of soil and plants, and fruitful growth: Cicero quotes what country people say of plants in full growth.^[3] Cicero also uses it of milk, of an abundance of anything, even of scoundrels, and of a rich flow of language and richness of content.^[3][2] Lewis & Short give fēcunditās and cōpia as synonyms.^[2] Coins have the form ⟨VBERITAS⟩, and Ulpian ⟨uberitas⟩.^[2][3] Church Latin glosses it fullness, fruitfulness, abundance.^[6]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of fertile soil, of milk, and of a rich style.^[3][5]
• before 223 AD – Ulpian has uberitas.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fruitfulness, fertility of soil and plants; fruitful growth.^[3][2][1][6]
2. Plenty, abundance of anything.^[3][2][1]
3. A copious flow of milk or other liquids.^[3]
4. Richness of language or style; richness of content.^[3][2]

Word family

• ūbertō

Related words

• ūber

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d 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