furcifer Latin · revision 33820

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfʊr.kɪ.fɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfur.t͡ʃi.fer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''furcifer''' ''m'' (genitive furciferī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ There is also a feminine ''furcifera''.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|furca|-fer|t1=fork|t2=bearing]], one who carries the fork, an instrument of punishment.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) A Latin gloss explains it as one who carries forks, and Plutarch says that the man who had carried the fork about was called by this name.^(TLL) De Vaan finds no convincing etymology for [[m|la|furca]]: the comparisons in Walde and Hofmann require an initial [[ine-pro|*ǵʰ-]], which would give Latin ⟨h-⟩, and he calls a borrowing from another dialect an emergency solution.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is a common insult in Plautus, in strings of abuse such as the ''Pseudolus''^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) and in many other plays.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Plautus and Terence it is mostly abuse thrown at slaves, “gallows bird”, “rascal”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) Cicero turns it on free men, Vatinius and Piso.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Horace still uses it in the ''Satires''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD also records a feminine ⟨furcifera⟩.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, as abuse of slaves.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, in the same use.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of Vatinius and Piso.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace, in the ''Satires''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One punished with the fork; a [[m|en|scoundrel]], [[m|en|villain]], gallows bird (as a term of abuse, mostly of slaves).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[trifurcifer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[furca]]

+ * [[ferō]]

+ * [[furcilla]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}