vermis

Forms

vermis m (genitive vermis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wormi- (“snake, worm”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *u̯r̥mi- (“snake, worm”).^[2][1] Cognate with Old English wyrm, Old Norse ormr and Old High German wurm (“worm”), from Proto-Germanic *wurma/i-.^[2][3] De Vaan points out that other branches have Proto-Indo-European *kʷr̥mi- (“worm”), as in Old Irish cruim, Sanskrit कृमि (kŕ̥mi-, “worm, maggot”) and Lithuanian kirmìs (“worm, snake”), and suggests that Latin and Germanic may have changed that form to *wr̥mi-.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Cato,^[2] who has it in the work on farming.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It is a worm, a maggot or another small creature of similar look.^[3][5] Lucretius uses it several times,^[5][6] and Celsus, Columella and Pliny the Elder have it in medicine and farming;^[5][4] Pliny also gives the name to a kind of fish.^[4] Church Latin keeps the plain sense, a worm.^[7] It lives on in verme and in forms such as berme and iermu.^[4][1]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato.^[2][4][6]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius.^[5][6]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus.^[4][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, also of a fish.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A worm, maggot or similar small creature.^[3][5][1][7]
2. A kind of fish.^[4]

Word family

• vermiculus
• vermiculātus

Related words

• English worm

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson