eculeus Latin · revision 32685

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *h₁eḱ-u-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɛˈkʊ.ɫe.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [eˈkuː.le.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''eculeus''' ''m'' (genitive eculeī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''equuleus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|equus|-uleus|t1=horse]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan traces [[m|la|equus]] to [[itc-pro|*ekwo-|t=horse]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁eḱ-u-|t=horse]], comparing [[sa|अश्व|tr=áśva-|t=horse]] and [[grc|ἵππος|tr=híppos|t=horse]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Varro,^(de Vaan 2008) who in his Menippean satires says that a groom will not break in a wild foal.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a young or small horse, a foal or pony: Livy reports among prodigies that a cow gave birth to a foal, and Cicero mentions little silver horses as works of art.^(OLD 2012) It is also an instrument of torture, probably a kind of rack: Cicero speaks of an inquiry into the facts on the rack and of a man tortured on it, and Seneca mentions it in his letters.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates it from Cicero.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro of a wild foal.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the rack and of silver horses.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a foal born to a cow.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A young or small horse, a [[m|en|foal]], [[m|en|pony]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # An instrument of [[m|en|torture]], probably a kind of [[m|en|rack]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[equiliolus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[equus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}