sumen Latin · revision 34469

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la sūgō}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sūmen''' ''n'' (genitive sūminis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sūgō|-men|t1=to suck]], from an older form ⟨*sugs-men⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan reconstructs [[itc-pro|*soug(s)mn-|t=udder]], from [[m|itc-pro|*souge/o-|t=to suck]] and [[ine-pro|*seug-e/o-|t=to suck]], and compares [[ang|sūcan|t=to suck]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who lists it in the ''Curculio'' among cuts of pork (''pernam, abdomen, sumen'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its usual sense is a sow's udder, which the Romans ate as a delicacy;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Plautus, Pliny the Elder and Martial mention it.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Lucilius applies it to a woman's breast giving milk.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) By metonymy Juvenal uses it for a sow itself,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Varro reports that the fields of Rosea were called the ''sumen'' of Italy, its fattest part.^(Georges 1913) Medieval writers in Britain still use it of a sow's udder as a delicacy, and also of an internal organ, especially the caul, and of the belly.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus names it among cuts of pork.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a woman's breast.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the most fertile land.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it for a sow.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Medieval Latin – British writers use it of the udder as food and of the caul and belly.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sow's [[m|en|udder]], eaten as a [[m|en|delicacy]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A woman's breast.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(metonymy)'' A [[m|en|sow]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The fattest, richest part of something.^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The [[m|en|caul]] or another internal organ; the belly.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[suminatus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}