specus Latin · revision 31248

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=234–149 BC, Cato}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''specus''' ''m'' or f or n (genitive specūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is feminine in Ennius, Pacuvius, Seneca, Frontinus and Gellius, and neuter in Virgil.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is usually derived from [[ine-pro|*speḱ-|t=to look]], the root of [[m|la|speciō|t=to look at]], and the OLD and Köbler give that link, the OLD with a “perhaps”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan notes that the meaning does not require it.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler gives Cato as its first author;^(Köbler 2010) Ennius has “a hollow cave opened wide within, beneath the mountain”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a cave or grotto, an abyss or chasm, as Virgil's ''hīc specus horrendum'', the breathing-holes of Dis, and any hollow or cavity.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also any excavation in the ground, a pit or tunnel, especially in mining, as the underground pits for storing grain in the ''Bellum Africum'', and a covered water channel or conduit, as in Varro and in Frontinus on the aqueducts.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “cave, hollow, den, cavity, pit, chasm, ditch, canal”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius of a cave beneath a mountain.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a conduit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a chasm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cave]], [[m|en|grotto]]; an abyss, chasm; a hollow, cavity.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A pit, tunnel;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''(mining)'' a shaft;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) a covered water channel, [[m|en|conduit]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[speciō]]

+ * [[spēlunca]]

+ * [[caverna]]

+ * [[antrum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein treats ''specus'' and ''caverna'' as cavities below or level with the ground, and ''spēlunca'' and ''spēlaeum'' as cavities with an opening leading into a mountain.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}