Etymologically
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vomer

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwoː.mɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvɔː.mer][1]

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