trisulcus Latin · revision 34323

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=70–19 BC, Virgil|origins=la trēs, la sulcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [trɪˈsʊɫ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [triˈs̬ul.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''trisulcus''' (feminine trisulca, neuter trisulcum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Fulgentius of Ruspe has a third-declension form ''trisulcis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tri-|sulcus|t1=three|t2=furrow]], with the combining form of [[m|la|trēs]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) [[m|la|sulcus|alt=Sulcus]] goes back to [[itc-pro|*solko-]] and [[ine-pro|*solk-o-|t=furrow]].^(de Vaan 2008) The older [[m|la|bisulcus|t=forked]] is formed in the same way.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of a snake's ''lingua trisulca'', “three-forked tongue”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means divided into three forks or prongs, and apparently also into three rows.^(OLD 2012) Besides the snake's tongue in Virgil and Pliny the Elder, Ovid calls Jupiter's thunderbolt ''telum trisulcum'' and lightning ''ignes trisulci'', and Palladius has a three-pronged branch.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Prudentius uses it figuratively of the forked speech of the serpent in Paradise.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Aldhelm has wounds ''trisulcis'' in his riddle on the leech.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a snake's three-forked tongue.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid applies it to Jupiter's thunderbolt.^(Georges 1913)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it of the serpent's speech in Paradise.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it in his riddle on the leech.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Divided into three [[m|en|fork|alt=forks]] or [[m|en|prong|alt=prongs]], three-forked, three-pointed; also in three rows.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' [[m|en|threefold|alt=Threefold]], triple.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bisulcus]]

+ * [[sulcō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}