vidulus

Forms

vīdulus m (genitive vīdulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] It is perhaps from Latin vieō (“to plait, weave”),^[2][3] and de Vaan lists it among that verb's derivatives and has to assume an extended root Proto-Indo-European *uiH-d-.^[3] Wiktionary instead mentions a possible link with Sanskrit वेद (vedá, “a tuft of strong grass”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found only in Plautus,^[3] who uses it of a travelling bag or trunk in the Rudens, Menaechmi and Epidicus.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Dictionaries define it as a kind of bag for carrying one's belongings,^[2] a travelling trunk or portmanteau.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in several comedies.^[4][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bag for carrying one's belongings; a travelling trunk, portmanteau.^[2][4][5]

Related words

• vieō
• vīmen

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de