alimonia Latin · revision 3787

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Varro|origins=ine-pro *h₂el-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [a.lɪˈmoː.ni.a]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [a.liˈmɔː.ni.a]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''alimōnia''' ''f'' (genitive alimōniae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|alō|-mōnia|t1=to nourish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''Alō'' is [[m|itc-pro|*ale/o-|t=to feed]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂el-e/o-]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Varro onwards.^(de Vaan 2008) In Varro's Menippean satires someone has “food set before him”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant food or nourishment, and feeding or upbringing, as in Apuleius.^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short call it an ante- and post-classical word for [[alimentum]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) Prudentius uses it of fuel for a flame.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Isidore says it is so called because the body is nourished by it.^(Isidore) In medieval Latin it also meant grain, a widow's portion and charity.^(Köbler 2010) English ''alimony'' was borrowed in the 1650s, first “nourishment”, then the allowance paid to a wife.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius speaks of natural nourishment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it of fuel for a flame.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1650s – English ''alimony'' is borrowed.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Food, [[m|en|nourishment]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Feeding, [[m|en|nurture]], upbringing.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Grain; a widow's portion; [[m|en|charity]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[alo]]

+ * [[alimentum]]

+ * [[en|alimony]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}