fulcrum Latin · revision 34535

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC)|origins=la fulciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfʊɫ.krũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈful.krum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fulcrum''' ''n'' (genitive fulcrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ A variant ''fulctrum'' is also found.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|fulciō|-crum|t1=to prop up]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) The OLD calls the formation of the ending doubtful.^(OLD 2012) The verb's own origin is unclear: its stem is often compared with [[grc|φάλαγξ|tr=phálanx|t=beam]] and [[goh|balko|t=beam]], but de Vaan finds the connection of meaning weak.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest example is from Lucilius, in a line that sets a ''fulcrum'' in place and adds four supports;^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) de Vaan dates it from Varro.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It named the curved head- or back-rest of a couch, which L&S describes as the post or foot of a bed or dining couch.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Virgil speaks of the golden ''fulcra'' of festive couches and Propertius of an ivory one.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) By the part for the whole it came to mean the couch itself, as in Propertius and Juvenal, and Ammianus has a feather couch, ''fulcrum plūmeum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval Latin used it generally for a support, base or pedestal, and figuratively for help.^(Niermeyer 1976) English took it in the 1670s as a term of mechanics for the prop on which a lever turns.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it for the head-rest of a couch.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of couches with or without a ''fulcrum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil describes the golden ''fulcra'' of festive couches.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it for the couch itself.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1670s – English borrows it as a term of mechanics.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The head- or back-rest of a [[m|en|couch]]; a [[m|en|bedpost]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(by extension)'' A couch.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(doubtful)'' The [[m|en|sole]] of the foot.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|support]], base, [[m|en|pedestal]]; help.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fulmentum]]

+ * [[en|fulcrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}