funis Latin · revision 5623

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=Cato}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfuː.nɪs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfuː.nis]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fūnis''' ''m'' (genitive fūnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan suggests [[itc-pro|*χwoini-]], from [[ine-pro|*gʷʰoyH-ni-|t=rope]], an ''o''-grade form of the root of [[fīlum]] “thread”, which is close in meaning.^(de Vaan 2008) Wiktionary gives *fūdnis from *bʰendʰ- “to bind”, as Lewis & Short had suggested *fudnis.^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato, who lists ropes to be mended.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was a rope or cable, as the ropes with which thieves tried to pull down a statue in Cicero.^(OLD 2012) A rope stretched for acrobats gave Horace his image of the poet walking the tightrope.^(OLD 2012) It was used in proverbs: Horace's man who struggles now on a tight, now on a slack rope, and ''fūnem sequī potius quam dūcere'', to follow the rope rather than lead.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was also a share of an inheritance and a land measure.^(Niermeyer 1976) Its diminutive [[fūniculus]] gave ''funicle'' and [[en|funicular]] in the 1660s, and ''fūnis'' with ''ambulāre'' gave [[en|funambulist]] “tightrope walker” in 1793.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato lists ropes to be mended.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero tells of thieves pulling at a statue with ropes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace speaks of the poet on a tightrope.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1660s – English ''funicular'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|rope]], [[m|en|cable]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A tightrope.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A share of an inheritance; a land measure.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fūnālis]]

+ * [[fūnambulus]]

+ * [[fūnārius]]

+ * [[fūnerēpus]]

+ * [[fūnētum]]

+ * [[fūnicula]]

+ * [[fūniculus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fīlum]]

+ * [[en|funicular]]

+ * [[en|funambulist]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says that ''fūnis'' is a thick rope for drawing and pulling, while [[restis]] is a thinner rope for tying and hanging, and [[laqueus]] the noose at its end.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}