Etymologically
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vitulus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈwɪ.tʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.tu.lus][1]

Forms

vitulus m (genitive vitulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wet-elo- (“yearling, calf”), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”), the root of vetus “old”, so “yearling”.[2][1] Cognate with Umbrian vitlu (“calf”), Ancient Greek ἔταλον (étalon, “yearling”) and Albanian viç (“calf”), and English wether is from the same root.[2][3][1] Isidore derived it from viriditās, the green age of youth.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato.[2][5] Varro distinguishes vitulus and vitula as the first age of cattle.[3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the young of cattle, a calf, especially a bull calf, as opposed to vitula “heifer calf”, and was often sacrificed, as Virgil's calf and Horace's.[3][6] Vitulus marīnus was the seal, and it was used of the young of elephants and whales in Pliny.[3][7]

The Appendix Probi rejects the syncopated viclus.[8] Its diminutive vitellus gave Old French veel and English veal in the early 14th century, and calfskin parchment gave English vellum.[9] The ancients also tied the name Italia to vitulus.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro distinguishes bull and heifer calves.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of young elephants.[7][5]
  • early 14th century – English veal is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A calf (male where distinguished).[3]
  2. vitulus marīnus, a seal.[3]
  3. The young of other animals (elephants, whales).[3][7]

Word family

  • vitellus
  • vitula
  • vetus
  • English veal
  • English vellum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Appendix Probi, a late antique list of correct and censured Latin word forms ("calida non calda"); ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini IV, Leipzig 1864, 197–199.
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com