vineus

Forms

vīneus (feminine vīnea, neuter vīneum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vīnum (“wine”) + -eus, an adjective of material.^[1][2]

Its base vīnum goes back to Proto-Italic *wīno- and Proto-Indo-European *ueih₁-(ō)n (“vine; wine”), which de Vaan, following Beekes, derives from the root “to weave, wrap”, the vine being “the weaving one”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is rare.^[4] Georges and Gaffiot cite it from Vitruvius, where Georges notes that another edition reads ⟨vitium⟩ instead.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Solinus calls wine vineus latex, “the liquid of the vine”, contrasting it with water.^[2][5][6] The feminine used as a noun, vinea, “vineyard”, is far more common and is found from Plautus and Cicero on.^[4][2]

In Medieval Latin the adjective survived mainly in glossaries: Osbern of Gloucester's Derivationes explains it as “soaked in wine”.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it, in one reading of his text.^[2][5][8]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus calls wine vineus latex.^[2][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of wine, consisting of wine.^[4][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin, in glossaries) Soaked in wine, vinous.^[7]

Word family

• vīnea

Usage notes

The feminine vīnea became a noun of its own, “a vineyard”, and also named a military shelter (a movable penthouse).^[4][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b 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 c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de