opusculum Latin · revision 34248

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la opus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''opusculum''' ''n'' (genitive opusculī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|opus|-culum|t1=work]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|opus]] to [[itc-pro|*opes-|t=work]] and [[ine-pro|*h3ep-os|t=work]], and compares [[sa|अपस्|tr=ápas-|t=work, action]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who calls Myrmecides a maker of tiny works, ''minutorum opusculorum fabricator'', and writes ''accipies igitur hoc parvum opusculum'', “so you will receive this little work”, written by lamplight in the shorter nights.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means a small work, especially a minor literary work, a trifle.^(OLD 2012) The TLL finds it only in a few places in Cicero, Horace, Statius and Quintilian, and more often from Pliny the Younger's letters on.^(TLL) Horace speaks of the ''opuscula'' of Cassius of Parma.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) Writers often used it modestly of their own books, and Jerome notes that both Hebrew and Latin call writings ''opuscula''.^(TLL) In Medieval Latin it could name any literary work, even a major one,^(Niermeyer 1976) and British writers such as Gildas and Bede used it of their own substantial works out of modesty.^(DMLBS) In New Latin it also means an article or an entry.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of tiny works of art and of his own little book.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of the works of Cassius of Parma.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome comments on its use for writings.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – Bede uses it modestly of his own works.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small work; especially a minor literary work, a [[m|en|trifle]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Used modestly by authors of their own work.^(TLL)^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Any literary work, even a major one.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(New Latin)'' An [[m|en|article]], an entry.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[opera]]

+ * [[opella]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}