dorsum Latin · revision 31808

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la dē, la versus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈdɔr.sũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɔr.sum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dorsum''' ''n'' (genitive dorsī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Plautus once has a masculine ''dorsus''.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ A variant ''dossum'', by assimilation, is found in Varro and the grammarian Velius Longus.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ De Vaan takes it to be a compound of [[dē|t=away from]] and ⟨versus⟩ “turned towards”, as the Romans themselves thought: the grammarian Festus equated it with [[deorsum|t=downwards]].^(de Vaan 2008) From ⟨*dē-worsum⟩ “turned away” came ⟨deorsum⟩, and, with ⟨eo⟩ reduced to ⟨o⟩ before ⟨rs⟩ as in ⟨sorsum⟩ for [[seorsum]], ⟨dorsum⟩ “turned away”, hence “back”; the spelling ⟨deorsum⟩ was then kept for the adverb and ⟨dorsum⟩ for the noun.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD instead compares [[ga|druim|t=back, ridge]] and [[cy|trum|t=ridge]];^(OLD 2012) Köbler calls the origin uncertain.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) whose ''Epidicus'' has a slave fearing that rods will strip his back.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the back of the body, of men and of animals;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short note that in classical prose it is used only of beasts of burden, men's backs being poetic or later.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes it from [[tergum]]: ⟨dorsum⟩ is the back seen horizontally, as an animal's back opposite its belly, ⟨tergum⟩ the back seen upright.^(Döderlein 1874) From the shape it came to mean any ridge or hump: Virgil has the double-backed share-beam of a plough and the ridge of a wood, and it is used of hill ridges and reefs.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

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

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a slave's back.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of an animal's back.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a plough's ridge and of wooded ridges.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|back]] of a person or animal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A [[m|en|ridge]] or hump; a hill ridge, a [[m|en|reef]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dorsālis]]

+ * [[dorsō]]

+ * [[dorsuālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vertō]]

+ * [[deorsum]]

+ * [[en|dorsal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary also records ''dorsum'' as an adverb, a form of [[deorsum]] “down”, which inscriptions confirm.^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}