pauci Latin · revision 17965

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=280/260–before 200 BC, Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *peh₂u-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpau̯.kiː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpaːu̯.t͡ʃi]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''paucī''' ''m pl'' (genitive paucōrum); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Ennius has the genitive plural ''paucum'', and the feminine ablative plural ''paucābus'' is in a fragment of the historian Gellius.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the masculine plural of [[m|la|paucus|t=few, little]], used as a noun.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) [[m|la|paucus]] is [[inh|itc-pro|*pauko-|t=few]], [[inh|ine-pro|*peh₂u-|t=few, small]];^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) the same stem with other suffixes is in [[parvus]] and [[pauper]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[grc|παῦρος|tr=paûros|t=little]], [[got|𐍆𐌰𐍅𐌰𐌹|tr=fawai|t=few]] and [[ang|fēa|t=few]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates ''paucus'' from Livius Andronicus.^(Köbler 2010) As a noun ''paucī'' is in Accius: ''multī inīquī atque īnfidēlēs rēgnō, paucī benevolī'', “many hostile and disloyal to the throne, few well disposed”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Paucī'' is “few”, “only a small number of people”, and “a select few” (Terence: ''nōlīte sinere … artem mūsicam recidere ad paucōs'', “do not let the art of music fall back to a few”).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also a small but indefinite number from a group, “a few” (''paucīs interfectīs'', “a few having been killed”), and in politics the few who rule, the oligarchs.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) As an adjective it means “few, too few”;^(OLD 2012) ''inter paucōs'' with an adjective is “uncommonly”.^(OLD 2012) The neuter plural ''pauca'' is “a few things” and “a few words”, and ''paucīs'' “in a few words, briefly”.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “few”, and ''paucīs'' “in a few words”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses ''paucus''.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''tū pauca in verba cōnfer'', “put it in a few words”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''ad paucōs''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius: ''paucī benevolī''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|few]] (people), a small number.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A select few.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A few (of a group).^(OLD 2012)

+ # The few who rule, the [[m|en|oligarch|alt=oligarchs]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Few; too few.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''inter paucōs'': uncommonly, unusually.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[paucus]]

+ * [[parvus]]

+ * [[pauper]]

+ * [[paulus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}