belua Latin · revision 30926

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈbeː.ɫu.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈbɛː.lu.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bēlua''' ''f'' (genitive bēluae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Some manuscripts spell it ''bellua''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) It is often compared with [[m|la|bēstia|t=beast]], whose origin is also unclear, as if from ⟨*bēslVwa⟩; another proposal derives it from a root meaning “to breathe”, as words for “animal” sometimes are, but Pokorny objected that an initial ⟨*dʰw-⟩ should have given Latin ⟨f-⟩.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Lewis and Short compared [[grc|θήρ|tr=thḗr|t=wild beast]] and [[m|la|fera]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan's first author is Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008) In Plautus' ''Rudens'' a character believes one man is turned into one beast and another into another.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a beast or wild animal, sea creatures included, and above all one notable for its size, ferocity or strangeness, a monster, Terence uses it of elephants.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is a vice or institution seen as a monster, as greed in a letter ascribed to Sallust.^(OLD 2012) Plautus already uses it as an insult, “brute”, and of a dull, stupid person.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of beasts and as an insult.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence of elephants.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|beast]], wild animal.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|monster]], a huge or fierce beast; an elephant.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figuratively)'' A monstrous thing (a vice, an institution).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of a person)'' A [[m|en|brute]], monster; a blockhead.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bēluālis]]

+ * [[bēluātus]]

+ * [[beluilis]]

+ * [[bēluīnus]]

+ * [[bēluōsus]]

+ * [[bēlūtus]]

+ * [[bēluus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bēstia]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}