apis Latin · revision 31446

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈa.pɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.pis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''apis''' ''f'' (genitive apis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The genitive plural is ''apium'' and also ''apum'', as in Livy;^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) a nominative ''apēs'' is also found,^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) which Priscian and Probus give as the usual form,^(Lewis & Short 1879) although the ''Appendix Probi'' says “''apes'', not ''apis''”.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(TLL)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan finds no accepted etymology; he calls conceivable Vennemann's proposal of a Semitic loanword, comparing [[egy|ꜥfj|t=bee]].^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary reports the older reconstruction ⟨*e/a(m)p-i-⟩ “stinging insect”, comparing [[grc|ἐμπίς|tr=empís|t=gnat]] and [[de|Imme|t=bee]],^(Wiktionary) as Köbler does.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus;^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler too gives Plautus.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the bee.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) A swarm of bees was a portent, as in Cicero's swarm that flew onto the stage at the games, in Virgil's ''Aeneid'' and in Livy's swarm that settled in the forum at Casinum.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Church Latin keeps it as “bee”,^(Stelten 1995) and Köbler finds it in the Bible and in the Bavarian, Burgundian, Lombard, Ripuarian, Salian and Saxon laws.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a swarm as a portent.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a swarm in the forum at Casinum.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bee]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[apicula]]

+ * [[apiārius]]

+ * [[examen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Āpis'' with a long first vowel is the sacred bull of the Egyptians,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) from [[grc|Ἆπις|tr=Âpis]];^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) Pliny the Elder also names a harbour ''Apis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}