ocellus Latin · revision 31479

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₃ekʷ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɔˈkɛl.lʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [oˈt͡ʃɛl.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ocellus''' ''m'' (genitive ocellī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a diminutive of [[oculus|t=eye]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ellus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan derives ⟨oculus⟩ from [[itc-pro|*ok(e)lo-]] and [[ine-pro|*h₃e/okʷ-(e)lo-|t=eye]], a formation that is probably Latin rather than PIE, built on a root noun [[ine-pro|*h₃ekʷ-]] or a verb “to see”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) where a lover says “let me kiss your little eyes, my delight”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a little eye, used mostly in tender or emotional language and in poetry, as Catullus' swollen little eyes and Ovid's eyes overcome by sleep.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Plautus it is already a term of endearment, “my darling, my rose”, the apple of one's eye, and it is also said of things one treasures.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) In grafting it is the incision in the bark that takes a bud, as in Pliny the Elder.^(OLD 2012)

+

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

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a lover's eyes and as an endearment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of swollen eyes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a graft in the bark.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # A term of endearment, [[m|en|darling]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In grafting, an incision for a bud.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ocellātus]]

+ * [[ocellulus]]

+ * [[subocellus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oculus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}