cacumen Latin · revision 31598

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kaˈkuː.mɛn]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [kaˈkuː.men]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cacūmen''' ''n'' (genitive cacūminis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is usually compared with [[sa|ककुभ्|tr=kakúbh-|t=peak, top]] and [[sa|ककुद्|tr=kakúd-|t=peak]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) and de Vaan also cites [[grc|κῦφος|tr=kûphos|t=hump]].^(de Vaan 2008) Walde took it as ⟨*kakud-⟩ remade after [[acūmen|t=point]], Pokorny set up a root [[ine-pro|*keu(H)-|t=to bend]], and Schrijver a reduplicated ⟨*kekubh-⟩; de Vaan finds these root shapes irregular and the vowels a poor match, and doubts, especially given ⟨acūmen⟩, that the word goes back to Proto-Indo-European at all.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and the TLL date it from Cato,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it for cuttings taken from the tops of trees: “plant poplar tops there”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its main sense is the peak or top of anything that tapers upward: mountain tops near the sky in Lucretius, the tops of dying trees in Varro, a flame rising with a double peak in Lucan.^(OLD 2012) Ovid uses it of the heads of broken flowers that droop to the ground, and of young blades of grass pushing up through the soil.^(OLD 2012) It is also the point of a cone, a height in the air, and in astronomy ''summum cacūmen'' and ''īmum cacūmen'' are the zenith and nadir.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is a pinnacle, as Laberius' “the flowering peak of our fame”.^(OLD 2012) Lewis and Short note that it is frequent in the poets and rare in prose before the Augustan age.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin has it for tip, summit, peak.^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary also records it for an accent mark over a letter.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato of cuttings from treetops.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of the tops of trees.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of mountain peaks.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 106–43 BC – Laberius of the height of fame.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 2nd quarter of 9th century – Walahfrid Strabo.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|peak]], top, [[m|en|summit]] of something tapering upward; the top of a tree, flower or flame.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A young shoot, a blade of grass.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The tip, point or extremity of something.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A piece cut from the top of a tree or branch, used as a cutting, medicine or food.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A great height in the air;^(OLD 2012) ''summum cacūmen'', the [[m|en|zenith]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A high point, [[m|en|pinnacle]]; an extreme limit.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cacūminō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acūmen]]

+ * [[culmen]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''acūmen'', the natural point of a cone or beak, from ''cacūmen'', the natural top, especially of a mountain;^(Döderlein 1874) ''mucrō'' and ''cuspis'' are artificial points for piercing.^(Döderlein 1874) Lewis and Short contrast it with ''culmen'', an extremity that projects upward.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}