Etymologically
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vimen

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwiː.mɛn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈviː.men][1]

Forms

vīmen n (genitive vīminis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vieō (“to plait, weave”) + -men.[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *weimn- (“branch for plaiting”) and Proto-Indo-European *ueh₁i-mn̥ (“plaiting”), beside the verb *wijeje/o- (“to plait”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἴτυς (ítus, “felloe, rim of a shield”), Lithuanian výti (“to twist, wind”), vytìs (“twig”), Avestan vaēiti- (“willow”) and Old Irish ar·fen (“to close off”).[4] Wiktionary adds German Weide (“willow”) and English withy.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato,[4] and Köbler's first author is Varro;[5] the word names a pliant branch cut for wickerwork.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a flexible twig or branch, an osier or withy, cut for wickerwork, and is used by Varro, Caesar and Virgil.[2][3] It also stands for something made of wickerwork, such as a basket, in Martial, or a fish trap.[2] Lewis & Short add a slip or set of willow in Columella and the wand of Mercury in Statius.[3]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of withies.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of osiers for wickerwork.[3][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial of a small basket of olives.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A flexible twig or branch cut for wickerwork, an osier, withy.[2][3][1]
  2. An article of wickerwork, a basket.[2]
  3. A slip or set of willow; the wand of Mercury.[3]

Word family

  • vīminālis
  • vīminārius
  • vīminētum
  • vīmineus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de