merum Latin · revision 30717

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *merH-o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmɛ.rũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmɛː.rum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''merum''' ''n'' (genitive merī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the neuter of [[m|la|merus|t=pure, unmixed]], used as a noun.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces the adjective to [[itc-pro|*mero-]] and [[ine-pro|*merH-o-|t=remaining, pure]], and follows Puhvel in comparing [[hit|marri|t=just so, gratuitously]]; the old comparison with [[grc|μαρμαίρω|tr=marmaírō|t=to sparkle]], which the OLD keeps beside [[ang|āmerian|t=to purify]], seems to him unnecessary.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Curculio'', of a man who would drown himself in neat wine (''ingurgitāre sē in merum'').^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan records the related ''merobibus'', “drinker of neat wine”, in Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Merum'' is wine not mixed with water;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short note that the word is poetic and post-Augustan in prose.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It often implies heavy drinking: Propertius' Centaurs carried off Ischomache in the middle of their wine, and Quintilian says Cicero would reproach Antony with ''merum et vomitum'', “neat wine and vomiting”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Poets also use it for the juice inside the grape (Ovid, Martial).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “wine”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of drowning in neat wine.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of the Centaurs' wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Unmixed wine, neat [[m|en|wine]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Wine-drinking.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(poetic)'' The juice of the grape.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[merācus]]

+ * [[merobibus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[merus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Medieval Latin had a separate ''merum'', perhaps from Greek, meaning a territory or pale.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}