silvaticus Latin · revision 36737

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=234–149 BC, Cato the Elder|origins=la silva}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [sɪɫˈwaː.tɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [silˈvaː.ti.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''silvāticus''' (feminine silvātica, neuter silvāticum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|silva|-āticus|t1=wood, forest]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan finds no etymology for [[m|la|silva]] itself.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ In Late Latin it was altered by vowel assimilation to ⟨salvaticus⟩, the source of [[fro|sauvage]] and of English [[m|en|savage]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cato the Elder is its first author.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In the ''De agri cultura'' he lists ''falces silvaticae'', billhooks for work in woodland,^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) and he also uses it of plants growing wild.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense was “belonging to the woods”: Cato and Varro use it of tools made for woodland work.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) It soon meant “wild” of plants and animals, as opposed to cultivated or tame ones: Varro has a wild pear and wild pigs,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Pliny the Elder a wild mouse and Petronius a wild pig.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In medieval Latin it kept the sense “wild” and also became a noun of forest law, for the right to use a forest and the dues paid for driving pigs into it or gathering wood.^(Niermeyer 1976) British charters use it of wooded land and of people living in woodland.^(DMLBS) Its Late Latin form ⟨salvaticus⟩ passed into Old French as ''sauvage'', which English borrowed as [[m|en|savage]], first of fierce animals in the mid-13th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder writes of woodland billhooks and wild plants.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of wild pears and wild pigs.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of a wild mouse.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius speaks of a wild pig.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 940 – A British charter speaks of ''loca silvatica'', wooded places.^(DMLBS)

+ * mid-13th century – English borrows Old French ''sauvage'', from its Late Latin form, as [[m|en|savage]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or belonging to [[m|en|woodland]] or scrub; of tools, used in woodland.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of plants and animals, growing or living [[m|en|wild]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Wooded, situated in woodland.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, law)'' The right to use a forest, a forest [[m|en|easement]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Dues paid for pasturing pigs in a forest or for gathering wood.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[silvester]]

+ * [[silvicola]]

+ * [[en|savage]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}