eburnus Latin · revision 32322

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la ebur}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɛˈbʊr.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [eˈbur.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''eburnus''' (feminine eburna, neuter eburnum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ebur|-nus|t1=ivory]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) For [[m|la|ebur]] the OLD compares [[egy|ꜣbw|t=elephant, ivory]], and Wiktionary takes it as a loanword, probably through Demotic, from that Egyptian word, perhaps related to the second half of [[grc|ἐλέφας|tr=eléphas|t=elephant, ivory]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010) Lucilius has an ivory mirror.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means made of ivory, or decorated with it: Lucretius has India walled with ivory, that is, with elephants.^(OLD 2012) Porta eburna is the ivory gate of the underworld through which false dreams come.^(OLD 2012) Ovid calls Pelops ivory for his ivory shoulder, and Propertius praises ivory-white fingers.^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary treats it as a form of [[eburneus]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius of an ivory mirror.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of an ivory rampart.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of white fingers.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of [[m|en|ivory]]; decorated with ivory;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''porta eburna'', the ivory gate of false dreams.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # White as ivory.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}