bipes Latin · revision 35811

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈbɪ.peːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈbiː.pes]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bipēs''' (genitive bipedis); third-declension one-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|bi-|pēs|t1=two|t2=foot]], “two-footed”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) De Vaan calls it the earliest attested compound in ⟨bi-⟩, which goes back to [[ine-pro|*dui-|t=two]]; [[m|la|pēs]] continues [[ine-pro|*pōd-s]].^(de Vaan 2008) It corresponds to [[grc|δίπους|tr=dípous]] and to [[xum|dupursus|t=bipeds]], which preserves the ablaut grade with long /o/.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first use is in Naevius,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) of birds as two-footed creatures.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is mostly poetic or post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero uses it of a two-footed god and, as a noun, contemptuously of people.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Virgil's two-footed horses are the sea horses of the sea gods, with fishes' tails,^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) and Juvenal's two-legged ass is a fool.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913) Martial uses it of a table with two legs.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses ''bipedes'' with verbs of walking for four-footed animals that walk on two feet, such as bears and the mice of Egypt.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) In the Vulgate the plural is a noun, two-footed creatures, set beside the four-footed.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Medieval British writers kept it for two-footed beings, Gerald of Wales in the definition of man.^(DMLBS) English formed ''biped'' from it in the 1640s, as a noun for an animal with two feet.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius calls birds two-footed.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a two-footed god.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil mentions two-footed sea horses.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes animals walking on two feet.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses the plural as a noun.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1640s – English forms ''biped'' from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Two-footed, [[m|en|biped|alt=bipedal]]; having two legs.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # (of four-footed animals, with verbs of walking) On two feet.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(noun)'' A two-footed creature; contemptuously, a man.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|biped]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}