Etymologically
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veterinus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛ.tɛˈriː.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ve.teˈriː.nus][1]

Forms

veterīnus (feminine veterīna, neuter veterīnum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Latin vetus (“old”) + -īnus.[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *wetes-ino- (“old”), beside *wetos- (“year”), from Proto-Indo-European *uet-os- (“year”).[3] He reports Adams's observation that the word usually refers to horses and similar animals, which may have been seen as “the old stock” because they lived longest of all cattle and the Romans did not as a rule eat horse meat.[3] Wiktionary suggests instead that it was formed when ⟨vetus⟩ still meant “year”, and notes a link with vehō (“to carry”), which suits the meaning better but the form less well.[1] Festus derived it from ⟨vehō⟩, and Lewis & Short follow him with a contracted ⟨vehiterinus⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Cato, who called a beast of burden bēstia veterīna; the phrase is reported by Festus.[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

It was always used of animals for drawing and carrying loads.[2] Lucretius has it of the breed of horses, Pliny the Elder of the kind of beasts of burden, and Arnobius of draught cattle.[4][5] Varro and Pliny use the plural as a noun, veterīnae or veterīna, “draught animals”.[2][4] Vegetius calls the medicine of such animals the ars veterīna.[4]

From its derivative veterīnārius English took veterinary by 1766.[7]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of a bēstia veterīna.[4][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses veterīnae as a noun.[4][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of horses.[4][8][6]
  • c. 400 AD – Vegetius writes of the ars veterīna.[4][6]
  • by 1766 – English veterinary is formed from veterīnārius.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Used for draught or carrying loads; of beasts of burden.[2][4][5]
  2. (Late Latin) Of the treatment of beasts of burden: ars veterīna, veterinary medicine.[4]

Noun

  1. (feminine or neuter plural) Draught animals, beasts of burden.[2][4][8]

Word family

  • veterīnārius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier