furvus Latin · revision 35687

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=116–27 BC, Varro|origins=ine-pro *dʰus-u̯o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfʊr.wʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfur.vus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''furvus''' (feminine furva, neuter furvum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ Georges marks the first vowel long, ''fūrvus''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*fuswo-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*dʰus-u̯o-|t=dark, brown]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan follows Rix, who posits this form with the suffix of other colour words such as [[flavus|alt=flāvus]], [[fulvus]] and [[helvus]];^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary notes that the word is cited as evidence for a change of /sw/ to /rw/, although Clayton derives it from a form with an extra vowel.^(Wiktionary) The root may be [[ine-pro|*dʰwes-|t=to breathe, fume]], so that the word would first have meant a dusty, murky colour,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) and Köbler places it with Pokorny's [[m|ine-pro|*dʰeu̯es-|t=to whirl like dust]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ Cognate with [[sga|donn|t=dun, brown]], [[wlm|dwnn|t=dun, dusky]], [[ang|dox|t=dark-haired, dusky]] and [[m|ang|dosen|t=dark-coloured]], and with [[en|dusk]].^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD and Lewis and Short compare [[fuscus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Varro,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) meaning “dark, dusky”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Lewis and Short describe it as poetic and post-Augustan in prose.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is used of dark clouds in Lucretius^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and above all of the underworld and what belongs to it: Ovid's dark caves of Acheron, Horace's ''furvae … Proserpinae'' and black victims offered to the gods below.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Juvenal speaks of a ''furva gens'', a dark-skinned people.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Figuratively a ''dies furvus'' was a day of ill omen, like ''dies ater'',^(OLD 2012) and Prudentius speaks of dark guilt.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius says that the early Romans used it for “black”,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and the Festus epitome glosses it ''nigrum vel atrum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses the word.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of dark clouds.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of a dark-skinned people.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius says that the early Romans used it for “black”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it figuratively of guilt.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|dark|alt=Dark]], [[m|en|dusky]], [[m|en|swarthy]], black.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of the [[m|en|underworld]]; gloomy.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''dies furvus'', an ill-omened, unlucky day.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fuscus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}