palumbes Latin · revision 35685

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [paˈɫʊm.beːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [paˈlum.bes]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''palumbēs''' ''m'' or f (genitive palumbis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Also ''palumbis, -is'', and the masculine ''palumbus, -ī'' in Cato, Columella and Martial.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Celsus has a feminine ''palumba, -ae''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ ''Palumbēs'' is masculine or feminine;^(Georges 1913) Virgil and Horace use it as feminine.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD and de Vaan take the first part from the root of [[palleo|alt=palleō]] “to be pale”, so that the bird would be named after its grey colour, with the same ending as [[columba]].^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) The comparison rests on [[grc|πέλεια|tr=péleia|t=wild pigeon]], which goes with a Greek stem for “grey”, and [[prg|poalis|t=pigeon]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL) Wiktionary similarly suggests a derivative of [[itc-pro|*palwos]], from [[ine-pro|*pl̥H-wo-|t=dark-coloured, grey]],^(Wiktionary) and Köbler compares Pokorny's [[m|ine-pro|*pel-|t=pale, grey]] with a question mark.^(Köbler 2010) The TLL notes that the variation of its declension is unclear.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) where it is already used figuratively: in the ''Bacchides'' two women are told ''duae unum expetitis palumbem'', “you two are after one pigeon”, that is, the same lover.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The bird is the [[m|en|wood pigeon]] or ring dove,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) named by Lucilius and Varro and in Virgil's ''Eclogues'' (''raucae, tua cura, palumbes'', “the hoarse wood pigeons, your delight”).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) In Plautus it also means a dupe, and the phrase ''palumbem ad aream adducere'', to lead the pigeon to the threshing floor, meant to give someone a good opportunity.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Suetonius tells of a pun on a gladiator called Palumbus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Isidore of Seville calls it a chaste bird, which goes alone once it has lost its mate.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it figuratively for a dupe or a lover sought after.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses the form ''palumbus''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius names the bird.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil calls the wood pigeons hoarse.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville calls it a chaste bird.^(Isidore)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wood pigeon]], a ring dove.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A dupe, a [[m|en|gull]]; also a lover sought after;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) ''palumbem ad aream adducere'', to give someone a good opportunity.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[columba]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}