mulier Latin · revision 17934

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈmʊ.li.ɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈmuː.li.er]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mulier''' ''f'' (genitive mulieris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) The derivative [[muliebris]] (from ⟨*mulies-ri-⟩) shows that it was first an s-stem, nominative ⟨*mulies⟩, which became ⟨mulier⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Sommer, Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny took it as a comparative of [[mollis]] “soft”, “the softer one”, as Isidore had; de Vaan objects that the correct preform would have given a different Latin form.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Klingenschmitt proposed a comparative of the stem of [[melior]] “better”, “the chief spouse”, which de Vaan finds needs two unparalleled assumptions.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary also mentions [[mulgeō]] “to milk”, “the milk-giver”, and sets up [[itc-pro|*moljes]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from the Twelve Tables and Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Plautus has ''amāre occēpī fōrmā eximiā mulierem'', “I fell in love with a woman of rare beauty”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Mulier'' is a woman in general, and specifically a woman who is married or not a virgin, as against ''[[virgō]]''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) With a genitive or possessive it is a man's wife or mistress (Catullus: ''nūllī sē dīcit mulier mea nūbere mālle quam mihi'', “my woman says she would rather marry no one but me”).^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is used as an insult, “coward”.^(Wiktionary) Döderlein contrasts ''[[fēmina]]'', woman by sex, as against ''mās'', with ''mulier'', woman as the weaker sex, as against ''vir''.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “woman, wife”.^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary records a Medieval Latin sense “adult virgin”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''amāre occēpī fōrmā eximiā mulierem''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''quid mulieris uxōrem habēs?'', “what sort of woman have you got for a wife?”^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus: ''nūllī sē dīcit mulier mea nūbere mālle''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|woman]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A married woman (as against a virgin).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|wife]], a mistress.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A coward.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An adult virgin.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[muliebris]]

+ * [[mulierārius]]

+ * [[muliercula]]

+ * [[mulieritās]]

+ * [[mulierō]]

+ * [[mulierōsus]]

+ * [[muliebritās]]

+ * [[muliebriter]]

+ * [[muliebrōsus]]

+ * [[mulierculārius]]

+ * [[mulierōsitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[melior]]

+ * [[fēmina]]

+ * [[uxor]]

+ * [[virgō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}