villosus Latin · revision 34767

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la villus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [wɪlˈloː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [vilˈlɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''villōsus''' (feminine villōsa, neuter villōsum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|villus|-ōsus|t1=shaggy hair, tuft]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Virgil,^(Köbler 2010) but Conte also cites a line from a tragedy of Ennius, of a dog “shaggy with snakes” (''angue villosi canis'').^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It always meant shaggy or hairy.^(OLD 2012) Virgil uses it of a lion and of Cacus' chest bristling with hair, and Ovid of Cerberus' throats with snakes for hair.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Pliny the Elder uses it of a root, has the comparative of a tree and the superlative of the hare, the hairiest of animals.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In British medieval Latin it was also used in anatomy, of the inner surface of the stomach and the womb, and of shaggy or piled cloth; as a feminine noun it named a shaggy towel, as in a letter of Boniface.^(DMLBS)^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian [[m|it|villoso]].^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of a dog shaggy with snakes.^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a lion.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of Cerberus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder calls the hare the hairiest of animals.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 735 – Boniface mentions a ''villosa'' for drying the feet of the servants of God.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|shaggy|alt=Shaggy]], [[m|en|hairy]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, anatomy)'' [[m|en|villous|alt=Villous]].^(DMLBS)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' (of cloth) Shaggy, having a pile.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A shaggy [[m|en|towel]].^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}