figulus Latin · revision 36495

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=ine-pro *dʰeyǵʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈfɪ.ɡʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈfiː.ɡu.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''figulus''' ''m'' (genitive figulī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*figelos]], a noun formed from [[ine-pro|*dʰeyǵʰ-|t=to knead, form]] with the suffix [[m|ine-pro|*-elos]];^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary bases this on the archaic spelling ⟨ficolos⟩ found on an inscription.^(Wiktionary) De Vaan, writing before that inscription was known, reconstructed [[m|itc-pro|*fiχlo-|t=who forms]] and [[m|ine-pro|*dhigh-lo-]], because the /g/ of the word points to a form in which the root consonant stood before /l/;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary thinks this must now be given up.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD analyses it within Latin as the root of [[m|la|fingō|t=to shape, mould]] with the suffix [[m|la|-ulus]].^(OLD 2012) The same root gives [[osc|feíhúss|t=walls]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Naevius wrote a comedy titled ''Figulus'', “The Potter”.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Varro mentions the jars that potters make, ''dōlia … quae figulī faciunt'',^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Vitruvius and Seneca the potter's wheel.^(TLL) Pliny the Elder credits the potter Butades of Sicyon with first moulding likenesses in clay, and Juvenal uses it of the builders of the brick walls of Babylon.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The Vulgate has the potter's vessel, ''vās figulī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The ''Appendix Probi'' censures the spoken form ''figel'' (“figulus non figel”),^(Appendix Probi) which also appears on an inscription.^(TLL) Medieval Latin used it of a potter, a glassmaker and a maker or creator,^(MLW) and British writers also of God as the potter of mankind.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius names a comedy ''Figulus''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of potters who make jars.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder names Butades of Sicyon as the first potter to model likenesses.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate speaks of the potter's vessel.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|potter]], a maker of earthenware.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|glassmaker]]; a maker, creator.^(MLW)^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[figlīnus]]

+ * [[figulāris]]

+ * [[figulātus]]

+ * [[figulo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fingō]]

+ * [[fictor]]

+ * [[figūra]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Figulus'' was also a Roman cognomen, borne by Publius Nigidius Figulus, a learned contemporary of Cicero, and by men of the gens Marcia.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}