ulmeus

Forms

ulmeus (feminine ulmea, neuter ulmeum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ulmus (“elm”) + -eus.^[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ulmus to Proto-Italic *e/olmo- and compares Old Irish lem (“elm”) and English elm; since the word is found only in Italic, Celtic, Germanic and Slavic and is hard to reconstruct, he thinks it may be of non-Indo-European origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[4][3] who jokes about elm rods used for beatings: “we shall be elmy” unless twenty minae arrive today.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means of elms or made of elm wood: Columella has elm leaves and Juvenal an elm-wood dinner.^[5][2] In Plautus elm switches are the rods of corporal punishment, and he coins ulmitriba, one who wears out elm rods.^[2][5][4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of elm rods.^[2][4][3]
• 1st century AD – Columella of elm leaves.^[5][3]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal of a dinner on elm.^[5][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of elm trees; made of elm wood.^[2][5][1]
2. (Plautus, humorous) Beaten with elm rods.^[2]

Related words

• ulmus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
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 e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press