gemmeus Latin · revision 34605

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=la gemma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈɡɛm.me.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈd͡ʒɛm.me.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gemmeus''' (feminine gemmea, neuter gemmeum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|gemma|-eus|t1=bud; precious stone]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan takes “bud, sprout” to be the original meaning of [[m|la|gemma]] and reconstructs [[itc-pro|*gebmā-]] and [[ine-pro|*ǵeb-m-|t=sprout, bud]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL finds it first in Varro and Cicero:^(TLL) Varro speaks of a jewelled horse ornament and saddle-cloths, and Cicero, in the Verrines, of a ladle made of precious stone.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first senses are “made of precious stone” and “set with jewels”: Seneca has jewelled furniture, Ovid the jewelled yoke of the Sun's horses, Martial a jewelled ceiling, and Ulpian, in the Digest, vessels set with gems.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Poets and later prose writers use it of things that glitter like jewels: Phaedrus of a peacock's tail, Martial of peacocks, Pliny the Younger of meadows bright with flowers and of a channel of water, and Calpurnius of a sparkling spring.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder probably uses it of a root's round, gem-like shape, and Martial speaks of a rumour that carries him on a jewelled wing.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In Late Latin it could mean “precious” of teaching or example.^(TLL) Medieval writers use it of jewelled vessels and of the heavenly palace, and figuratively of something splendid;^(MLW)^(DMLBS) medieval German sources also have ''sal gemmeum'' for rock salt.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro speaks of a jewelled horse ornament.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions a ladle made of precious stone.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of a peacock's glittering tail.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 223 AD – Ulpian speaks of vessels set with gems.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Set with precious stones, [[m|en|jewelled]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Made of precious stone.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(poetic)'' Glittering as if with [[m|en|jewel|alt=jewels]], sparkling.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Shaped like a [[m|en|gem]].^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' Precious, excellent.^(TLL)^(MLW)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, in ''sal gemmeum'')'' Of [[m|en|rock salt]].^(MLW)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}