sementis Latin · revision 36675

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *seh₁-mn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [seːˈmɛn.tɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [seˈmɛn.tis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēmentis''' ''f'' (genitive sēmentis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The accusative singular is usually ''sēmentem'', but ''sēmentim'' occurs in Cato, Cicero and Columella.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ The ablative is ''sēmentī'' or ''sēmente''.^(OLD 2012)

+ Later Latin also has a neuter ''sēmentium'', with the plurals ''sēmentia'' and ''sēmenta''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|sēmen|t=seed]],^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)^(Wiktionary) which belongs to [[m|la|serō#1|t=to sow]].^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan, following Leumann, thinks it may have been reshaped from an earlier neuter [[m|la|*sēmentum]], and Wiktionary gives the same view as uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The word for seed goes back to [[itc-pro|*sēmn|t=seed]] and [[ine-pro|*seh₁-mn|t=seed]], built on the root [[m|ine-pro|*seh₁-|t=to sow]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[lt|sė́ti|t=to sow]], [[lt|sė́menys|t=linseed]] and [[lv|sẽt|t=to sow]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus on.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In the ''Menaechmi'' it appears in a joking threat, ''hisce ego iam sēmentem in ōre faciam'' “I'll do some sowing on these faces”, meaning a sound beating.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Cato uses it plainly for the sowing of crops, for the sowing season and for the crop that is sown.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was the farmer's word for sowing: ''sēmentem facere'' meant to sow,^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012) and Caesar has the plural for large sowings.^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012) Cicero quotes the proverb ''ut sēmentem fēceris, ita metēs'', “as you sow, so shall you reap”,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) and uses the word figuratively for the sowing of evils.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) By metonymy it named the sowing season, usually late autumn, in Cato and Columella,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) and the seed sown or the young crop, in Ovid, Columella and Gellius.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In later Latin it also took the form of a neuter ''sēmentium''.^(Georges 1913)^(Wiktionary) The Ecclesiastical dictionaries keep the senses of sowing and seed.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in a jest about sowing blows on faces.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for sowing, for seedtime and for the crop.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero quotes the proverb of sowing and reaping.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil advises stretching the sowing to midwinter frosts.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the plural of young crops.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine has the neuter plural ''sēmentia''.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|sowing|alt=Sowing]], the sowing of seed;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''sēmentem facere'', to sow.^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A sowing (of evils and the like).^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The sowing season, [[m|en|seedtime]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # That which is sown: the seed, the [[m|en|crop]];^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) ''(plural)'' young crops.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sementifer]]

+ * [[sēmentō]]

+ * [[sementium]]

+ * [[sēmentivus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sēmen]]

+ * [[serō#1]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''ut sēmentem fēceris, ita metēs'' (Cicero, ''De oratore'' 2.261) corresponds to “as you sow, so shall you reap”.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}