ulcus Latin · revision 31978

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₁elḱ-os}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈʊɫ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈul.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ulcus''' ''n'' (genitive ulceris); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''hulcus'' is also found.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*elkos]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₁elḱ-os|t=ulcer]];^(de Vaan 2008) ⟨*elkos⟩ became ⟨*olkos⟩ and then ⟨ulcus⟩.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|ἕλκος|tr=hélkos|t=wound, ulcer]].^(de Vaan 2008) Less certainly, de Vaan adds [[sga|olc|t=bad]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has “I carry a back covered with sores like an oyster shell”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a sore or ulcer on the body, frequent in Celsus and Pliny the Elder and also in Lucretius, Virgil and Horace, and Grattius uses it of a growth on a tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Martial uses it of a morbid sexual craving.^(OLD 2012) Figuratively it is a sore point, as in Terence's “what was less useful than to touch this sore and name the wife?”^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it “sore, ulcer, boil”.^(Stelten 1995) English [[m|en|ulcer]] comes from it through Old French, recorded from about 1400.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a back covered with sores.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence of a sore point.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus of ulcers in medicine.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial of sexual craving.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1400 – English [[m|en|ulcer]], through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sore]], [[m|en|ulcer]], boil; a growth on a plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A morbid sexual craving.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Figuratively, a sore point, [[m|en|canker]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ulcerāria]]

+ * [[ulcerō]]

+ * [[ulcerōsus]]

+ * [[ulcusculum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ulceratio|alt=ulcerātiō]]

+ * [[en|ulcer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[vulnus]] and [[plaga]], wounds from outside, from ''ulcus'', any open or sore place in the body that has begun to fester.^(Döderlein 1874) He calls [[cicatrix|alt=cicātrīx]] the scar left when a wound has healed.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}