octonus Latin · revision 35699

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la octō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɔkˈtoː.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [okˈtɔː.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''octōnus''' (feminine octōna, neuter octōnum); first/second-declension numeral^(Wiktionary)

+ It is mostly plural, ''octōnī, -ae, -a''; the singular is rare.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ Köbler also records the form ''octēnī''.^(Köbler 2010)

+ Manuscripts also spell it with ''ott-'' and ''-ten-''.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|octō|-nus|t1=eight]], the distributive numeral of the series “one each, two each…”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Priscian already lists it among the distributives.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on,^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) meaning “eight each”: in the ''Captivi'' others “dig out eight stones each” (''alii octonos lapides ecfodiunt'').^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The distributive sense, “eight apiece”, runs through Classical prose: Varro has sows that can rear eight piglets each, Cicero a price of eight sesterces for each modius, and Livy eight thousand foot soldiers given to each praetor.^(OLD 2012) From this it came to mean “eight at a time, in groups of eight”, as in Caesar's eight rows of the same kind and Pliny the Elder's fish that swims with eight fins.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Poets use it simply for “eight”, especially in multiplied numbers: Ovid counts “twice eight birthdays” (''octonis iterum natalibus actis''), and Statius uses ''bis octoni'' in the same way.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) The singular, found in an inscription,^(OLD 2012) became more common in Late Latin, where Hilary of Poitiers writes ''octonus numerus'' for “the number eight”^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Ausonius ''bis octono sub consule''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for “eight each”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of piglets reared eight to a sow.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it for rows set eight at a time.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it in the multiplied number “twice eight”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 315–367/368 AD – Hilary of Poitiers uses the singular for “the number eight”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # ''(plural)'' Eight [[m|en|each]], eight apiece.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(plural)'' Eight at a time, in groups of eight.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(poetic)'' Eight, especially in multiplied numbers such as ''bis octōnī'', “sixteen”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(singular, Late Latin)'' ''octōnus numerus'', the [[m|en|number]] eight.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[octōnārius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}