acervus Latin · revision 5955

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [aˈkɛr.wʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈt͡ʃɛr.vus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''acervus''' ''m'' (genitive acervī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Rix derived it from *akes-uo-, from the neuter s-stem of [[acus]] “chaff”, so “heap of chaff”, then “heap”; de Vaan calls the sense shift a guess, though the form is possible.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The TLL also says it is perhaps derived from ''acus''.^(TLL) Köbler gives the root *aḱ- “sharp”.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who speaks of a heap of grain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a heap, pile or stack, as Cato's instruction to put the tablets in a heap, and the funeral pyre.^(OLD 2012) Of immaterial things it meant a large quantity, as Cicero's heaps of crimes, and a confused mass, as Ovid's chaos when air, fire, water and earth were one heap.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder uses it of the cluster of eyes in a peacock's tail.^(OLD 2012) In philosophy it translated [[grc|σωρίτης|tr=sōrítēs]], the sorites, the paradox of the heap, as in Cicero and Horace.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of a heap of grain.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a pile of tablets.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the sorites.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|heap]], pile, stack; a funeral pile.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A large quantity, mass.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A confused mass.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A cluster, group.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' The [[m|en|sorites]], the paradox of the heap.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[acervālis]]

+ * [[acervātim]]

+ * [[acervō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[acus]]

+ * [[en|coacervate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}