aculeus Latin · revision 34059

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h2eḱ-u-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aculeus''' ''m'' (genitive aculeī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|acus|-uleus|t1=needle]], a diminutive suffix;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Priscian took it as a diminutive of that noun with a change of gender.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The TLL compares [[acuo|alt=acuō]] “to sharpen”, and perhaps an Anglo-Saxon word for a fork.^(TLL) De Vaan traces the base to [[itc-pro|*aku-]] and [[ine-pro|*h2eḱ-u-|t=pointed]], and compares [[lt|ãšutas|t=hair of a horse's tail or mane]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) whose speaker in the ''Trinummus'' says a sting has long been pricking his heart, wondering what a man was doing outside his house.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its literal sense is the sting of an insect or scorpion, and by extension a spine of a fish, the spur of a fowl and a thorn or prickle of a plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Livy uses it of the barb of an arrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Most uses are figurative: the sting of sharp remarks or arguments, as in Cicero's arguments that prick like little questions, the pang of worry or doubt, and a spur to action.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero speaks of plucking out the stings of the judges' severity, and of a witness who died after leaving his sting behind, the phrase ''aculeum ēmittere''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) The Vulgate has the stings of locusts.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Church Latin uses it of a sharp point or sting.^(Stelten 1995) The grammarian Probus insists on the masculine ''hic aculeus'', not ''haec aculea''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the sting of worry.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of the sting of a scorpion and of sharp words.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the barb of an arrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella of the spur of a fowl.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sting]] of an insect or other animal; a spine of a fish; the spur of a fowl.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|thorn]] or prickle of a plant.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|barb]] of an arrow; a pointed implement.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A sting, dart of words; a pang of worry or doubt; a [[m|en|spur]] to action.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''aculeum ēmittere'': to leave one's sting behind, spend one's venom.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aculeātus]]

+ * [[aculeolus]]

+ * [[acūleōnis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acus]]

+ * [[acuo|alt=acuō]]

+ * [[acumen|alt=acūmen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}