tomentum Latin · revision 5934
16 Oct 2026, 04:19 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=Varro}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [toːˈmɛn.tũː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [toˈmɛn.tum]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''tōmentum''' ''n'' (genitive tōmentī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008) Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from *towementom, from the root [[ine-pro|*tewh₂-|t=to swell]] of [[tumeō]], perhaps through a causative “to stuff”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan notes that it could come from an older *tōmen < *teuh₂-mn̥, or be built on verb forms, but no such verb survives in Latin, which weakens the explanation.^(de Vaan 2008) Ernout and Meillet hesitantly suggested [[tondeō]] “to shear”.^(de Vaan 2008) Isidore of Seville derived it from swelling in the thread or the cloth.^(Isidore)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan dates it from Varro.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant flock or similar material for stuffing cushions and mattresses, wool, hair, feathers or straw, and ''tōmentum Circēnse'' was a stuffing of rushes for the seats at the Circus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Tacitus and Suetonius use it, and Pliny the Elder names the materials.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ In Medieval Latin it meant padding, especially the woolly nap sheared from cloth.^(DMLBS) [[en|tomentum]] is a borrowing of it.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes stuffing materials.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # [[m|en|Stuffing]] for cushions and mattresses, flock.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Padding; the nap sheared from cloth.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[tueor]]
+ * [[tumeō]]
+ * [[en|tomentose]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}