uncus Latin · revision 5795

16 Oct 2026, 03:33 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Cato|origins=ine-pro *h₂enk-}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈʊŋ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuŋ.kus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''uncus''' ''m'' (genitive uncī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*onko-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂onḱ-o-|t=hook]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[sa|अङ्क|tr=aṅká-|t=hook, bend]], [[grc|ὄγκος|tr=ónkos|t=barb of an arrow]] and [[ang|anga|t=hook]], and [[ancus]] “crook-armed” and [[angulus]] “corner” come from a related root.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato, who lists iron hooks among farm equipment.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The noun was a hook used for any purpose, and especially the hook with which the bodies of executed criminals were dragged to the Tiber, as Cicero speaks of the scourge, the hook and the cross.^(OLD 2012) In building it was a clamp fixing stone facing to a core, and Horace gives Necessity a stern clamp.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The adjective ''uncus'' meant hooked, curved, as Lucretius' and Virgil's curved ploughshare.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ 
+ Döderlein says ''uncus'' supposes a strong curve, a hook, while ''curvus'' is any crookedness.^(Döderlein 1874) In medieval Poland and Bohemia ''uncus'', from a Slavic word, was a measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010) ''Uncīnus'' “hook” gave the adjective [[en|uncinate]] “hooked”.^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato lists iron hooks.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius speaks of the curved ploughshare.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the executioner's hook.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 65–8 BC – Horace gives Necessity a clamp.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|hook]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # The hook used to drag executed criminals.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|clamp]] (in building).^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A measure of land.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Hooked, curved.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[uncatus]]
+ * [[unciārius]]
+ * [[uncīnus]]
+ * [[aduncus]]
+ * [[obuncus]]
+ * [[reduncus]]
+ * [[uncipēs]]
+ * [[unculus]]
+ * [[uncātiō]]
+ * [[uncifer]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[ancus]]
+ * [[angulus]]
+ * [[curvus]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Döderlein distinguishes ''curvus'' (crooked in general), ''uncus'' (strongly curved, hooked) and ''hāmātus'' (hooked like a fish-hook).^(Döderlein 1874)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}