viteus

Forms

vīteus (feminine vītea, neuter vīteum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vītis (“vine”) + -eus.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it in his work on farming of a young vine shoot, coliculus viteus.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Virgil calls wine pocula vitea, “cups of the vine”.^[4][5] Later writers used it of vine wood (Solinus) and vine bonds (Ambrose), and of ridges and fields covered with vines (Ausonius, Prudentius).^[7][4]

In medieval Latin it is glossed in Old English, and a description of Rome's marvels has a statue called Bacchus holding a vine stock.^[8]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of a vine shoot.^[4][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil calls wine “cups of the vine”.^[4][5][6]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses it of vine wood.^[7][6]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it of ridges planted with vines.^[7][6]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius calls vineyards vitea rura.^[4][5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a vine.^[2][4]
2. Covered with vines, planted with vines.^[2][7][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f 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
8. ^ 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