flammifer Latin · revision 35927

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius|origins=la flamma, la ferō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɫam.mɪ.fɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈflam.mi.fer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flammifer''' (feminine flammifera, neuter flammiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|flamma|-fer|t1=flame|t2=bearing]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan derives the noun from ⟨*flag-ma⟩, the stem of [[m|la|flagrō|t=to burn]], and traces it to [[ine-pro|*bʰlg-mh₂-|t=flame]];^(de Vaan 2008) the suffix belongs to [[m|la|ferō|t=to carry]], from [[m|ine-pro|*bʰer-|t=to carry]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Ennius on,^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) in a tragic line that Cicero quotes: “drive this plague from me, this flame-bearing force” (''pestem abige ā mē, flammiferam hanc vim'').^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The TLL calls it a poetic word, especially liked by Valerius Flaccus and Silius Italicus.^(TLL) Ovid uses it of the fiery hair of a star and of a torch, Silius of the chariot of the sun, and Lucan of a night lit by torches.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ It lived on in medieval poetry and prose: Aldhelm uses it of the flaming sword of the cherubim,^(DMLBS) and later writers also use it in the sense “shining”.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it in a tragedy.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a star's fiery hair and of a torch.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it of a night lit by torches.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus uses it of the sun's chariot.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the flaming sword of the cherubim.^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Carrying or having [[m|en|flame|alt=flames]]; [[m|en|fiery]], flaming, burning.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Shining, glowing.^(MLW)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[flamma]]

+ * [[flagrō]]

+ * [[flammeus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}