cunnus Latin · revision 36586

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus|origins=ine-pro *kut-no-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkʊn.nʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkun.nus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cunnus''' ''m'' (genitive cunnī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Inscriptions spell it ''cunus''.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is not certain: the OLD marks it as doubtful and the TLL as unknown.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) According to de Vaan it is [[inh|ine-pro|*kut-no-|t=scrotum, vagina]], from a root [[m|ine-pro|*kut-|t=bag]] that also came to mean the scrotum and, by metaphor, the female parts; following Leumann he suggests that it is an old n-stem turned into an o-stem, like the Germanic word for the testicles.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler connects it with [[ine-pro|*skeut-|t=to cover, wrap]].^(Köbler 2010) Other proposals link it with [[m|la|cutis|t=skin]] or with [[m|la|cuneus|t=wedge]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate, according to de Vaan, with [[cy|cwd|t=bag, scrotum]], [[grc|κυσός|tr=kusós|t=vagina, buttocks, bladder]], [[lt|kutỹs|t=money bag]] and [[goh|hodo|t=testicles]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Catullus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of a she-mule.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the vulgar word for the female genitals,^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) found in Horace's satires, the ''Priapea'' and Martial.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) By metonymy it stood for an unchaste woman,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) and Martial uses it of loaves of obscene shape.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ British medieval Latin kept the old sense, and a 15th-century word list glosses it with the English word.^(DMLBS) By confusion with [[cunīculus]] it was also used for a mine or underground passage.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a she-mule.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it in the ''Satires'', also of a woman.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of loaves of obscene shape.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(vulgar)'' The female [[m|en|genitals]], [[m|en|vulva]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(vulgar)'' An unchaste woman.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A loaf of obscene shape.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A [[m|en|mine]], underground passage.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cunnilingus]]

+ * [[cunniō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Cicero says that it was avoided as an obscene word, in the ''Orator'' and in one of his letters.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}