canus Latin · revision 31105

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ḱh₁s-no-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkaː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkaː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cānus''' (feminine cāna, neuter cānum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kasnos|t=grey]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ḱh₁s-no-|t=grey]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Together with [[m|la|cascus|t=old]] it points to a stem ⟨*kasno-⟩, and it is cognate with the word for the hare in other languages: [[cy|ceinach|t=hare]], [[sa|शश|tr=śaśá-|t=hare]], [[prg|sasins|t=hare]], [[goh|haso|t=hare]] and [[ang|hara|t=hare]], and with [[m|goh|hasan|t=grey, shining]] and [[m|ang|hasu|t=grey-brown]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Its Italic cognate is [[pgn|casnar|t=old man]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Following Lubotsky, de Vaan takes the ultimate root to be [[m|ine-pro|*ḱh₁-]], found in other adjectives for “grey” too.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan gives Plautus as its first author,^(de Vaan 2008) who has it of white-haired old men, as the old lover in the ''Casina'' called a “grey gnat”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is first white or grey of hair, implying old age, experience or wisdom, as in Plautus.^(OLD 2012) Things with a white covering are also ''cānus'': the sea whitened with foam, as Ennius' “hoary seas”, water white with dust, mountains white with snow, as in Virgil, and trees with silvery leaves.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) By extension it means age-old, as Martial's “hoary rights”, and Ovid's “hoary old age”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “gray, hoary”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of grey-haired old men.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of the foam-whitened sea.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of snow-covered mountains.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial of age-old rights.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|white|alt=White]], whitened: (of the sea) foam-capped, (of mountains) snowy, (of plants) silvery.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # White- or grey-haired, [[m|en|hoary]], old, (of hair) white, grey.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Age-old, ancient.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cānaster]]

+ * [[cānī]]

+ * [[cānitiēs]]

+ * [[cānitūdō]]

+ * [[cānūtus]]

+ * [[incānus]]

+ * [[praecānus]]

+ * [[sēmicānus]]

+ * [[cānitia]]

+ * [[cāneō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cānēscō]]

+ * [[cascus]]

+ * [[albus]]

+ * [[en|hare]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}