vernula Latin · revision 34727

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=4 BC–65 AD, Seneca|origins=la verna}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vernula''' ''m'' (also ''f'') (genitive vernulae); first declension^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ Köbler also records the spelling ''verula''.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|verna|-ula|t1=home-born slave]],^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) a diminutive.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The origin of [[m|la|verna]] itself is unclear;^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) Köbler and Wiktionary mention a possible Etruscan source.^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is post-Augustan:^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler records it first in Seneca,^(Köbler 2010) and Lewis and Short cite the ''De providentia'' for a young slave born in the household.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Juvenal, Pliny the Elder and Apuleius use it of a young home-born slave.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) As an adjective it meant “native, home-grown”: Juvenal has it of a fish native to the Tiber, Martial of his own little books, and Rutilius of a bird.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Petronius has a reading ''vernula urbanitas'' for a coarse, saucy wit.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval Latin it meant a servant,^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS) and religious writers used it for a devoted follower, a servant of God or of a saint.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of a young home-born slave.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of a slave and, as an adjective, of a native fish.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * c. 417 AD – Rutilius uses it of a native bird.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A young [[m|en|slave]] born in the master's household.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|servant]]; a devoted follower.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|native|alt=Native]], home-grown.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verna]]

+ * [[vernāculus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}