vitellus Latin · revision 36769

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la vitulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [wɪˈtɛl.lʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [viˈtɛl.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vitellus''' ''m'' (genitive vitellī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ A neuter ''vitellum'' is found in Apicius and is quoted from Varro.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|vitulus|-ellus|t1=calf]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) That noun goes back to [[itc-pro|*wet-elo-|t=yearling, calf]] and to [[ine-pro|*uet-|t=year]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The OLD gives the word for the yolk of an egg an entry of its own and derives it only “perhaps” from the little calf,^(OLD 2012) while Lewis and Short, Georges and de Vaan treat the yolk as a further sense of the same word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) in the ''Asinaria'', as a term of endearment: ''agnellum me tuum dic esse edillum vel vitellum'', “say that I am your little lamb, your little kid or your little calf”.^(DMLBS)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of the yolk of an egg appears in Varro,^(de Vaan 2008) and Cicero, Celsus, Horace, Petronius, Pliny the Elder and Martial all use it so.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Lewis and Short record the little calf only in that passage of Plautus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers still used it for a calf: a Peterborough chronicle lists cows together with their calves (''vaccae cum … vitellīs'').^(DMLBS) Through Anglo-French and Old French it is the source of English [[m|en|veal]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a pet name, “little calf”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it for the yolk of an egg.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the yolk in the ''De divinatione''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+ * early 14th century – English ''veal'', from it through French, is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A little [[m|en|calf]], as a term of endearment.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+ # The [[m|en|yolk]] of an [[m|en|egg]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vitulus]]

+ * [[en|veal]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The OLD numbers the two senses as separate words, ''vitellus''¹ “little calf” and ''vitellus''² “yolk”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}