fiber Latin · revision 5750

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈfɪ.bɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈfiː.ber]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fiber''' ''m'' (genitive fibrī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*fifro-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*bʰe-bʰr-o-|t=brown animal, beaver]], a reduplicated form of the root *bʰer- “brown”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sa|बभ्रु|tr=babhrú-|t=reddish-brown]], [[lt|bebras|t=beaver]], [[ru|бобр|tr=bobr|t=beaver]], [[goh|bibar|t=beaver]] and [[ang|beofor|t=beaver]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) All the cognates point to *bʰebʰr-, so either the first vowel was raised to /i/ in Latin or the word continues a variant *bʰibʰr-; a few glosses and Varro have [[m|la|feber]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, from a fragment quoted by Festus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the beaver, also called ''castor'', as Pliny describes the beaver of the Black Sea and its prized glands.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Varro has the variant ''feber''.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Medieval glosses equate it with ''castor'' and Old English ''befer'', and in British sources it could also be the otter or the badger.^(DMLBS) The Germanic name gave [[en|beaver]], and Late Latin ''beber'' was borrowed from Germanic.^(Etymonline)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro has the form ''feber''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the beaver.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|beaver]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An otter; a badger.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fibrīnus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[castor]]

+ * [[en|beaver]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}