amarus Latin · revision 5327

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [aˈmaː.rʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈmaː.rus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''amārus''' (feminine amāra, neuter amārum, comparative amārior, superlative amārissimus, adverb amārē or amāriter); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan tentatively reconstructs [[itc-pro|*o/am-]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂h₃m-ro-]], comparing [[sa|अम्ल|tr=amlá|t=sour]], [[non|apr|t=sharp, cold]] and [[ang|ampre|t=sorrel]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) He notes that the suffix ⟨-ārus⟩ is found only in [[avārus]], which has a verb beside it, while ''amārus'' has none.^(de Vaan 2008) Kortlandt and Wiktionary also connect words for “raw”, such as [[grc|ὠμός|tr=ōmós|t=raw]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who asks whether beginning to love is bitter.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant bitter in taste, of wine dry, and of smells and smoke pungent or acrid.^(OLD 2012) Of sounds it meant harsh or shrill, of experiences bitter or painful, and of people bitter or ill-natured, as in Terence's “women are bitter”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Döderlein contrasts ''amārus'', a nauseous bitterness opposed to [[dulcis]], with [[acerbus]], a biting sourness opposed to [[mītis]].^(Döderlein 1874) In British medieval Latin the neuter was used as a noun for bitterness.^(DMLBS) It survives in [[it|amaro]] and [[fr|amer]], and was reshaped in [[es|amargo]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus asks whether beginning to love is bitter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius speaks of the bitter wood of the box tree.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence calls women bitter.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of bitter wormwood.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|bitter]] (in taste), (of wine) dry.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Pungent, [[m|en|acrid]] (in smell).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Harsh, shrill (to the ear).^(OLD 2012)

+ # Painful, distressing.^(OLD 2012)

+ # (of persons) Ill-natured, bitter.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amāritās]]

+ * [[amāritiēs]]

+ * [[amāritūdō]]

+ * [[amāror]]

+ * [[amārulentus]]

+ * [[peramarus]]

+ * [[subamārus]]

+ * [[amārellus]]

+ * [[amārēscō]]

+ * [[amāricō]]

+ * [[dūlcamārus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}