umbilicus Latin · revision 5049

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₃nbʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''umbilīcus''' ''m'' (genitive umbilīcī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*omb-(e/o)l-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₃nbʰ-(e/o)l-|t=navel]].^(de Vaan 2008) The suffix is complex: in view of the ''l''-suffixes of Celtic, Greek and Germanic, de Vaan takes it as an old ''l''-stem made thematic as *-(e)lo-, to which the suffix [[m|la|-īcus]] was added.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sga|imbliu|t=navel]], [[sa|नाभि|tr=nā́bhi|t=navel, hub]], [[grc|ὀμφαλός|tr=omphalós|t=navel]], [[prg|nabis|t=hub, navel]], [[goh|nabalo|t=navel]] and [[ang|nafela]] ([[en|navel]]).^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) who has a character say that the day is already dead down to its navel, that is, half over.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense was the navel of a person or an animal, and in Celsus the umbilical cord.^(OLD 2012) Things resembling a navel in position or shape took the name: the centre of a country, so that a place in the middle of Sicily was called its navel, a central point in surveying, the gnomon of a sundial, the germ of a seed, a small pebble on the shore, a setting for a gem, and the ornamented end of the rod on which a book roll was wound, so that ''ad umbilicum'' meant “to the end”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Varro compared the place at the middle of the earth to the navel in our bodies.^(OLD 2012) The ''Appendix Probi'' corrects the popular form ''imbilicus''.^(Appendix Probi) It survives in [[es|ombligo]] and in Old French ''lombril'', which became [[fr|nombril]] by dissimilation; [[en|umbilicus]] is a medical word from the 1610s.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro compares the centre of the earth to the navel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a place in the middle of Sicily its navel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of the umbilical cord.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1610s – English ''umbilicus'' is recorded in anatomy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|navel]]; the [[m|en|umbilical cord]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The [[m|en|centre]] of a country or region; the middle.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A central point in surveying; the [[m|en|gnomon]] of a sundial.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The germinating part of a seed.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The ornamented end of the rod of a book roll, ''ad umbilicum'', to the end.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A small pebble found on the shore; a setting for a gem.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[umbilicaris]]

+ * [[umbilicātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[umbō]]

+ * [[en|umbilical]]

+ * [[en|navel]]

+ * [[en|nombril]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Isidore says it is the middle of the body and derives it from ''umbus iliorum'', the boss of the belly, whence also [[umbō]].^(Isidore) The ''Appendix Probi'' has ''umbilicus non imbilicus''.^(Appendix Probi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}