vomer

Forms

vōmer m (genitive vōmeris); third declension^[1] An older nominative vōmis occurs in Cato, Virgil and Columella.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Proto-Italic *woɣʷsmi-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *wogʷʰ-ni- (“coulter, ploughshare”), though de Vaan marks both reconstructions as uncertain.^[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ὀφνίς (ophnís, “ploughshare”), Old Prussian wagnis (“coulter”), Old Norse vangsni (“ploughshare”) and Old High German waganso (“ploughshare”).^[4][2] Since ⟨*wogʷʰmi-⟩ would probably have given a different Latin form, de Vaan suggests a suffix ⟨*-smi-⟩; the nominative ⟨vōmis⟩ keeps the old i-stem, later replaced by an s-stem as in cinis.^[4] Pokorny and Köbler connect it with Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to move, carry”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato has it in the older form ⟨vōmis⟩;^[2][3] Köbler's first source is Lucretius.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is the ploughshare.^[2][3] Wiktionary also records a crude use for the penis.^[1]

Church Latin glosses it “ploughshare”.^[6] In Medieval Latin it was the ploughshare used in trials by ordeal, a missile, and a measure of land.^[7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato, in the form ⟨vōmis⟩.^[2][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius.^[5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, also with ⟨vōmis⟩.^[2][5]
• Medieval Latin – the ploughshare of the ordeal; a measure of land.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ploughshare.^[2][3][1][6]
2. (vulgar) The penis.^[1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A ploughshare used in an ordeal; a missile; a measure of land.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill