corpusculum Latin · revision 32849

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɔrˈpʊs.kʊ.ɫũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [korˈpus.ku.lum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''corpusculum''' ''n'' (genitive corpusculī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|corpus|-culum|t1=body]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|corpus]] to [[itc-pro|*korp-os-]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱr̥p-os-|t=body]], with cognates such as [[ang|hrif|t=belly, womb]] and [[ae|kəhrp-|t=body, figure]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and the TLL date it from Plautus, who has it once, as a term of endearment for a wife.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL notes that after Plautus it reappears with Amafinius, Cicero and Lucretius.^(TLL) It is a small body, often a person's, said with contempt, pity or affection: Celsus uses it of a stillborn child, and Juvenal of the puny bodies of men.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Augustus, in a letter quoted by Suetonius, teases a man who lacks height but not girth.^(OLD 2012) It is also a small object, and above all a minute particle, an atom: Lucretius uses it often, and Cicero notes that atoms are so called.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In medieval Latin it is a corpse.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|corpuscle]] comes from it, first of any small particle in the 1650s, later of blood cells.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus as a term of endearment.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of atoms.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the atoms of the Epicureans.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus of a stillborn child.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English [[m|en|corpuscle|alt=corpuscle]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small body; of a person, with contempt, pity or affection; playfully, plumpness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # A small object; a minute [[m|en|particle]], an [[m|en|atom]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A term of endearment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|corpse]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[corpus]]

+ * [[en|corpuscle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}