Etymologically
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virgeus

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Forms

virgeus (feminine virgea, neuter virgeum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin virga (“twig, rod”) + -eus.[2][1][3] De Vaan finds the origin of the noun uncertain: it may go back to Proto-Italic *wizg- and Proto-Indo-European *uis-g-, a root seen in other words for sticks and bundles, but only the Germanic forms such as Old Norse visk (“wisp”) and Old High German wisc (“wisp”) are close enough to make the link likely.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato,[3] whose farming manual speaks of brooms made of twigs;[4][5] Köbler lists Plautus among its first sources.[6]

Semantic evolution

It describes things made of twigs, rods or brushwood.[2][7] Virgil uses it of wicker gear in the Georgics and of a fire of brushwood in the Aeneid;[4][5] Columella of hurdles and hedges, and Pliny the Elder of rings made of myrtle twigs.[4][7] Calpurnius Siculus uses the neuter plural as a noun, twigs.[7][5]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of brooms made of twigs.[4][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of wicker gear and of a brushwood fire.[4][5][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of hurdles and hedges.[4][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of rings of myrtle twigs.[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made of twigs or rods; of wicker.[2][4]
  2. Of brushwood.[4][5]
  3. (neuter plural as noun) Twigs.[7][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn