mamilla Latin · revision 35918

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *mama}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [maˈmɪl.la]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [maˈmil.la]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mamilla''' ''f'' (genitive mamillae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ⟨mammilla⟩,^(OLD 2012) a spelling Lewis and Short call incorrect.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|mamma|-illa|t1=breast]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913) De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|mamma]], a nursery word made by reduplicating a labial nasal plus ⟨a⟩, which goes back to [[itc-pro|*mam(m)a]] and [[ine-pro|*mama]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|μάμμη|tr=mámmē|t=mother]] and [[lt|mamà|t=mother]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis and Short and Georges cite it first as a term of endearment in Plautus' ''Pseudolus'',^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) while de Vaan and Köbler date it from Varro,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of small spouts set on a pipe so that they spray water.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its main sense is a breast or nipple:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Juvenal asks who is surprised at a breast in Meroe bigger than her fat baby, and uses it also of a sow with thirty teats.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Varro's small nozzle or spout on a pipe corresponds to [[grc|μαστός|tr=mastós]].^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ The ancient commentators separated it from its neighbours: Servius calls ''mamilla'' the whole swelling of the breast and ''papilla'' the small part from which milk is drawn, and Isidore says that ''mamillae'' belong to men, ''mammae'' to women and ''ubera'' to animals.^(TLL) In the Vulgate it is the breast in Isaiah and the Apocalypse, and Augustine speaks of a cancer of the breast.^(Georges 1913) It continues in Italian ''mammella'' and French ''mamelle''.^(TLL)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a term of endearment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of small spouts on a pipe.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of human and animal breasts.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Isaiah and the Apocalypse.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore distinguishes ''mamillae'', ''mammae'' and ''ubera''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|breast]], [[m|en|nipple]], [[m|en|teat]], of a human or an animal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A term of endearment.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A small [[m|en|nozzle]] or spout set on a pipe.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mamillānus]]

+ * [[mamillāre]]

+ * [[mamillātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mamma]]

+ * [[papilla]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[mamma]] and [[ūber]], the female breast as part of the body and as filled with milk, from [[papilla]] and ''mamilla'', the nipples, which both sexes have.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}