favus Latin · revision 32331

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=first quarter of the 1st century BC, Atta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfa.wʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfaː.vus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''favus''' ''m'' (genitive favī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Walde and Hofmann derived it from [[ine-pro|*bʰuH-|t=to dwell]], the honeycomb being the dwelling of the bees, and Köbler and Wiktionary also connect it with that root; de Vaan considers preforms that would fit, but finds none well supported.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest example is in the comic poet Atta, of adding as much honeycomb as one likes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan dates it from Varro.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a honeycomb, which Varro defines as what bees build of wax with many cells, each of six sides.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses it also of combs built by other insects, such as beetles.^(OLD 2012) Honeycombs were eaten, used in medicine and offered to gods.^(OLD 2012) Vitruvius uses it of hexagonal paving stones.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Church Latin glosses it honeycomb or honey.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * first quarter of the 1st century BC – Atta of honeycomb as food.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro defines the honeycomb.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of hexagonal paving stones.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|honeycomb]]; a comb built by other insects; honey.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A hexagonal paving stone.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}