fovea Latin · revision 33380

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɔ.we.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfɔː.ve.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fovea''' ''f'' (genitive foveae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan rejects the comparison with [[grc|χειά|tr=kheiá|t=serpent's den]] and the Hesychian [[m|grc|χειή|tr=kheiḗ]], and finds it uncertain whether [[m|la|favissae|t=underground vaults]] belongs with it, since the origin of both is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008) The TLL suggests that it may come from [[m|la|fodiō|t=to dig]], with its ending taken from [[m|la|cavea|t=hollow, enclosure]].^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler record it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of a trap: ''ita decipiemus fovea leonem Lycum'', “so we shall catch Lycus the lion in a pit”, and ''paene in foveam decidi'', “I nearly fell into the trap”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its general sense is a pit: Lucretius has moisture flowing into a pit, and Virgil men learning to cover the dead with earth and hide them in pits.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In particular it is a pit with a hidden mouth for catching game, a pitfall,^(OLD 2012) as in Cicero's beast that has fallen into a pit, and in Caesar's wild oxen caught in pits;^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) figuratively it is a snare or trap, as in Plautus and Lactantius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Tertullian uses it of the womb and of a gap in a text.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Church writers use it for a den, lair or pitfall,^(Stelten 1995) and in medieval Latin it also meant a buried hoard and an ore-pit.^(Niermeyer 1976) English took it over as [[m|en|fovea]] in 1849 for a small pit or depression in a surface.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of a trap.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius, of a pit in the ground.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a beast fallen into a pitfall.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian, of the womb.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1849 – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|fovea]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pit]], hole in the ground.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|pitfall]] for catching game.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|snare]], trap.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' The womb; a gap in a text.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A [[m|en|den]], lair.^(Stelten 1995)^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A buried [[m|en|hoard]]; an ore-pit.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[foveālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[favissae]]

+ * [[en|fovea]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes cavities such as [[specus]] and [[caverna]] from pits opening downward into the earth, among which he counts ''scrobs'', ''fovea'' and ''favissa''.^(Döderlein 1874) As a place name ''Fovea'' was Foggia in Apulia.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}