demum Latin · revision 30649

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈdeː.mũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.mum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēmum''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Livius Andronicus and Plautus have the form ''dēmus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an old superlative of [[m|la|dē|t=down from]], like [[m|la|prīmus]] and [[m|la|īmus]], meaning “last, farthest”, with the neuter used as an adverb.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces [[m|la|dē]] to the particle [[ine-pro|*de|t=here]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Livius Andronicus, who has ''dēmus''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ With expressions of time ''dēmum'' marks something that happens late, “at last, only then” (''tum dēmum'', ''nunc dēmum'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) After other possibilities have been excluded it means “only, alone, and no other” (''is dēmum'', “he and no one else”), and at the end of a process “in the end, eventually” (Plautus: condemned at last, he paid back 1,200).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “at last, finally, just, only, precisely”,^(Stelten 1995) and medieval Latin “at last”.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus has ''dēmus''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # At last, only then, not until.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Only, alone, and no other.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # In the end, [[m|en|eventually]], finally.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dē]]

+ * [[dēnique]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}