innumerus Latin · revision 32283

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *nem-e/os-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɪnˈnʊ.mɛ.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [inˈnuː.me.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''innumerus''' (feminine innumera, neuter innumerum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Late Latin also has a third-declension form ''innumeris'', ''-e''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|numerus|t1=not|t2=number]], with adjectival -us.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) The TLL compares [[m|la|innumerābilis]].^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|numerus]] to [[itc-pro|*nomeso-]] and [[ine-pro|*nem-e/os-|t=apportioning]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Lucretius,^(Köbler 2010) who speaks of seeds flying about in countless number.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means that cannot be numbered, countless, with plurals and collective nouns, as Virgil's countless pyres built by the Latins and Ovid's earth that brought forth countless species.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein calls it a poetic and choice word, beside the ordinary prose [[innumerabilis|alt=innumerābilis]].^(Döderlein 1874) Lewis & Short note that it is poetic and post-Augustan; in Cicero it is a false reading.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of a countless number of seeds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of countless pyres.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of countless species.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|countless|alt=Countless]], [[m|en|innumerable]], numberless.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[innumerabilis|alt=innumerābilis]]

+ * [[numerus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}