porcus Latin · revision 4836

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *pórḱos}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔr.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔr.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''porcus''' ''m'' (genitive porcī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*pork-o-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pórḱ-o-|t=young pig]], perhaps first “digger”, from the root of the word for “furrow”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[xum|purka|t=sows]], [[lt|par̃šas|t=piglet]], [[goh|farah|t=piglet]] and [[ang|fearh|t=piglet]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Varro compared [[grc|πόρκος|tr=pórkos|t=pig]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus speaks of pigs kept for sacrifice.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it was a pig, especially a male, a domestic swine, and in the plural pigs in general.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) ''Porcus fēmina'' was a sow and ''porcus lactēns'' a sucking pig, and the ''porcus Trōiānus'' was a stuffed pig.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016) Nurses used it as a word for a girl's genitals, and it named two kinds of fish.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein calls it a farmer's word, beside the general [[sūs]].^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ Medieval writers distinguished home-fed pigs from those in pasture and sucking pigs, and pigs were paid as rent.^(DMLBS) It survives as [[it|porco]], [[es|puerco]], [[pt|porco]] and [[ro|porc]], and Old French ''porc'' gave English ''pork''.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a farm's pigs.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1300 – English ''pork'' is recorded, from Old French ''porc''.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – English ''porcupine'' is recorded, from Old French ''porc-espin'' “spine hog”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pig]], hog, swine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''Porcus lactēns'', a sucking pig, ''porcus Trōiānus'', a stuffed pig.^(Georges 1913)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # The female genitals (nurses' word).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A kind of fish.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[porca]]

+ * [[porcārius]]

+ * [[porcellus]]

+ * [[porcīnus]]

+ * [[porculus]]

+ * [[porcella]]

+ * [[porcellīnus]]

+ * [[porcelliō]]

+ * [[porcētra]]

+ * [[porcilia]]

+ * [[porciliāris]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[scrōfa]]

+ * [[sūs]]

+ * [[en|pork]]

+ * [[en|porcupine]]

+ * [[en|porpoise]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}