animal Latin · revision 3662

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Cicero|origins=ine-pro *h₂enh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈa.nɪ.maɫ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.ni.mal]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''animal''' ''n'' (genitive animālis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the neuter of [[animalis|alt=animālis]] “living, breathing”, used as a noun, from [[anima]] “breath, soul”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) The base goes back to [[ine-pro|*h₂enh₁-|t=to breathe]].^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ Lewis and Short and Georges note the full form [[m|la|animāle]], which is found in Lucretius.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero (81–43 BC),^(Köbler 2010) who says the great difference between a living and a lifeless thing is that a living being acts.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant any living creature, including man, as Varro's animals of the land, and more often a beast as opposed to man, as Caesar's captured animals sacrificed by the Gauls.^(OLD 2012) ''Animal parere'' was “to bear live young” rather than lay eggs.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ As a term of abuse it meant a brute or monster, as Cicero's “so faithless a creature”.^(OLD 2012) Philosophers applied it to the world as a living being.^(OLD 2012) In Medieval Latin it often meant a domestic animal, cattle or a post horse.^(Köbler 2010) English ''animal'' was borrowed in the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of land animals.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of living beings and as a term of abuse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of sacrificial animals.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 14th century – English ''animal'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A living being, creature.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An [[m|en|animal]], beast (as opposed to man).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''animal parere'': to be [[m|en|viviparous]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(contemptuous)'' A brute, monster.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' A living thing (of the world).^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A domestic animal; cattle.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inanimālis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[anima]]

+ * [[animō]]

+ * [[animus]]

+ * [[en|animal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes ''animal'', a living being by its nature, from ''animans'', one still breathing, and both from ''bestia'' and ''belua'', the brute beast.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}