gemmifer Latin · revision 36556

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=57/46–12 BC, Propertius|origins=la gemma}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gemmifer''' (feminine gemmifera, neuter gemmiferum); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|gemma|-fer|t1=gem; bud|t2=bearing]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan holds that the sense “bud, sprout” of [[m|la|gemma]] is the original one, and traces it to [[itc-pro|*gebmā-]] and [[ine-pro|*ǵeb-m-|t=sprout, bud]], with cognates such as [[lt|žémbėti|t=to germinate, sprout]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Propertius,^(Köbler 2010) who speaks of the waves of the gem-bearing sea, ''freta gemmiferī maris''.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means bearing or containing gems:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses it of rivers that carry gems,^(Lewis & Short 1879) and it is in Seneca's ''Medea''.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) It also meant set with gems, jewelled, as of ears in the ''Hercules Oetaeus'' and of a crown in Valerius Flaccus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis and Short call it poetic and post-Augustan.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ British medieval writers such as Aldhelm used it of things set with gems, and Boniface used it figuratively for sparkling or brilliant.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius speaks of the gem-bearing sea.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it in the ''Medea''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of rivers bearing gems.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Containing or yielding [[m|en|gem|alt=gems]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Set with gems, [[m|en|jewelled]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Sparkling, [[m|en|brilliant]].^(DMLBS)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}