bimus Latin · revision 34641

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=234–149 BC, Cato|origins=itc-pro *dwi-χimo-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈbiː.mʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈbiː.mus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bīmus''' (feminine bīma, neuter bīmum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ The spelling ''beimus'' is found in an inscription.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|bi-|hiems|t1=two|t2=winter]], literally “having two winters”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives it from [[itc-pro|*dwi-χimo-]],^(de Vaan 2008) with the zero grade of [[ine-pro|*ǵhim-ós|t=winter]] that is kept only in such compounds,^(de Vaan 2008) and Wiktionary reconstructs [[ine-pro|*dwiǵʰimos]].^(Wiktionary) The same formation is found in [[trīmus]] and [[quadrīmus]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Compare [[gmw-pro|*twigim|t=two years old]]^(Wiktionary) and [[en|twinter]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Ancient grammarians explained ⟨bimus⟩, ⟨trimus⟩ and ⟨quadrimus⟩ as if named from ⟨bis⟩, ⟨ter⟩ and ⟨quater hieme⟩, “two, three, four winters”;^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cassiodorus reports this from Eutyches.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato has it first,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) of vines and plants two years old.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used of animals, as in Varro's ''bubulum pecus'' that begins to bear at two, of children, of plants and of things such as wine and bricks: Horace has ''bimī … merī'', two-year-old wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The neuter served as a noun, “the age of two years”, in Cato and Varro.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ It also meant “lasting two years”: Ovid's snow lies for two years, and in a letter to Cicero Plancus calls a legion of two years' service ''bima''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero's ''bima sententia'' is a vote to extend a provincial command for two years.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) The jurists use ''bima die'' for a payment due at the end of two years.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval British sources it means “two winters old”, and Ælfric's glossary equates it with [[ang|twiwinter]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of vines.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of cattle.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of a ''bima sententia''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace has two-year-old wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of snow lasting two years.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius uses it of a child aged two.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Two [[m|en|year|alt=years]] old.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Lasting two years; of a period of two years;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) ''bima diē'', at the end of two years.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bīmātus]]

+ * [[bīmulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quadrīmus]]

+ * [[trīmus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}