ulna Latin · revision 35677

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus|origins=itc-pro *olenā-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈʊɫ.na], [ˈʊɫ.naː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈul.na], [ˈul.na]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ulna''' ''f'' (genitive ulnae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*olenā-|t=forearm]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) from an n-stem of the Proto-Indo-European word for the elbow, which de Vaan reconstructs as [[ine-pro|*Heh₃l-én-|t=elbow]] or with other ablaut grades; he suggests that it was first an l-stem to which an n-stem was made already in Proto-Indo-European.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary calls the reconstruction uncertain.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[sga|uilen|t=angle]], [[cy|elin]], [[grc|ὠλένη|tr=ōlénē|t=elbow]] and [[got|𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌽𐌰|tr=aleina|t=cubit]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Catullus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) meaning the arm: ''tremula patris dormientis in ulnā'', “sleeping in a father's rocking arm”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In poetry it is the forearm or simply the arm, especially as used for holding or embracing, in Propertius, Ovid, Lucan, Silius and Statius;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses it of the elbow.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein describes it as the whole arm, the measure of an ell, as against [[lacertus]] (upper arm), [[bracchium]] (forearm) and [[cubitus]] (elbow).^(Döderlein 1874) As a measure of length it was the ell, in Virgil, Horace and Ovid, and in Pliny the Elder as much as the outstretched arms can clasp, a fathom.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers kept the arm, often in figurative embraces of mercy or grace, and the ell in many local standards, including the king's iron ell;^(DMLBS) Niermeyer gives it also as a measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976) The anatomical sense, the inner bone of the forearm, was taken into English from medical Latin in the 1540s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it for a father's arm.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it as a measure of length.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the elbow and for a fathom.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1540s – English borrows it from medical Latin for the bone of the forearm.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|forearm]], the arm (especially in holding or embracing).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The [[m|en|elbow]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # An [[m|en|ell]], a measure of length; a [[m|en|fathom]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The [[m|en|ulna]], the inner bone of the forearm.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|ell]]

+ * [[en|ulna]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}