cervus Latin · revision 5311

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ḱerh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛr.wʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.vus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cervus''' ''m'' (genitive cervī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*ker(a)wo-|t=horned animal, stag]], [[inh|ine-pro|*ḱer(h₂)-uo-|t=having horns]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan considers this derivative of the word for “horn” Italo-Celtic, with cognates [[cy|carw|t=stag]] and [[br|karo|t=deer]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Related forms are [[grc|κεραός|tr=keraós|t=horned]] and [[hit|karawar|t=horn]]; [[en|hart]] is from the same root.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[cornū]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who has a man saying he would rather wrestle with a lion, a hydra or a stag than with Love.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a stag or deer.^(OLD 2012) Because they looked like antlers, the plural ''cervī'' was used of forked stakes set up against cavalry, as in Caesar and Varro, and Tertullian uses it of vine props.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In medieval British Latin it was the red deer and also an image of a hart, and ''herba cervī'' was the hart's-tongue fern.^(DMLBS) The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈkɛrβ-u/, continued everywhere except Dalmatian and Istriot, as in [[it|cervo]], [[fr|cerf]] and [[es|ciervo]].^(DÉRom)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus would rather wrestle with a stag than with Love.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro explains the military ''cervī'' by their likeness to antlers.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses the plural of anti-cavalry stakes.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|stag]], deer.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (plural, military) Forked stakes against cavalry, chevaux-de-frise.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A vine prop.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cerva]]

+ * [[cervārius]]

+ * [[cervīna]]

+ * [[cervīnus]]

+ * [[cervula]]

+ * [[cervulus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cerebrum]]

+ * [[cernuus]]

+ * [[cornu]]

+ * [[en|hart]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}