vitricus
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Pronunciation
Forms
vītricus m (genitive vītricī); second declension[1]
Etymology
The origin is uncertain.[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derive it from Proto-Indo-European *(d)u̯i-tero- (“second, other”), but de Vaan objects that this does not explain the long ⟨ī⟩ and has no other solution.[3][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
De Vaan finds it first in an inscription and in Cicero,[3] who uses it in his letters to Atticus and his speeches.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
It means a stepfather, in Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius.[2][4] In Ovid's Amores it is used of Vulcan as the stepfather of Cupid.[4]
Timeline
- 81–43 BC – Cicero.[4][3][5]
- 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of Vulcan as Cupid's stepfather.[4][5]
- 98–115 AD – Tacitus.[4][5]
Meanings
Noun
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de