umbrosus
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Pronunciation
Forms
umbrōsus (feminine umbrōsa, neuter umbrōsum); first/second-declension adjective[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin umbra (“shade, shadow”) + -ōsus.[2][1] The noun umbra is generally connected with Lithuanian ùnksna (“shade”) and taken back to Proto-Italic *unksrā-, but de Vaan notes that no root etymology is known.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Its first example in the OLD is in Cato the Elder, who says willow beds should be planted in wet, shady places.[2]
Semantic evolution
It means full of shade, of places, as in Cicero's “I never saw a shadier place in summer” and Virgil's shadowy caverns, and of trees and the like, giving plenty of shade.[2][4] The neuter plural is used as a noun for shady places, as in Pliny the Elder and Seneca.[2]
Timeline
- 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder of shady places.[2][5]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero of a shady spot.[2][4][5]
- 70–19 BC – Virgil of shadowy caverns.[2][5]
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of shady places as a noun.[2][5]
Meanings
Adjective
- Of places, full of shade, shadowy, shady.[2][4][1]
- Of trees, giving plenty of shade.[2][4]
- (neuter plural as noun) Shady places.[2]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de