contus Latin · revision 32915

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=grc κοντός}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''contus''' ''m'' (genitive contī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|κοντός|tr=kontós|t=pole, pike]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary derives the Greek word from [[m|grc|κεντέω|tr=kentéō|t=to sting, goad]], and Köbler cites Pokorny's [[ine-pro|*ḱent-|t=to prick]].^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Isidore of Seville took it as if from [[conus]], a sharp roundness.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) and Lewis & Short think it perhaps not used before Augustus.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil uses it of boat poles and as a weapon.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a pole of any kind, especially one used on a boat or ship.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tacitus and Suetonius also use it of boat poles.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also a long spear, lance or pike, as in Virgil, Grattius' huge Macedonian pikes, Valerius Flaccus' Sarmatian rider, and Tacitus, who says that on a wet day neither pikes nor swords were of use.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ammianus has the proverb that one is carried not by poles and tow-rope but under full sail.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In Medieval Latin it is a lance with a pennant, or a banner.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of boat poles and of a pike.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus of pikes useless on a wet day.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 390 AD – Ammianus' proverb of poles and sails.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pole]], especially a boat-pole.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A long spear, [[m|en|lance]], [[m|en|pike]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A lance with a pennant; a [[m|en|banner]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contārius]]

+ * [[contatus]]

+ * [[contiger]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}