serum Latin · revision 6020

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Catullus|origins=ine-pro *ser-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛ.rũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛː.rum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''serum''' ''n'' (genitive serī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*sero-|t=liquid]], [[inh|ine-pro|*sér-o-|t=flowing, liquid]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) Cognate with [[grc|ὀρός|tr=orós|t=whey]] and [[sa|सर|tr=sará|t=flowing, liquid]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) De Vaan notes that the Sanskrit words are usually derived from *sel-, the root of [[saliō]], and that otherwise Latin has only an action noun with e-grade and Greek an agent noun with o-grade.^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis and Short took it from the Greek word.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Catullus.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler's first source is Virgil, 70–19 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant whey, the watery part of curdled milk, as in Virgil, Columella and Pliny the Elder, and by transfer any similar fluid, as the watery part of pitch in Pliny and, obscenely, semen in Catullus.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it was whey, distinguished by the animal that gave the milk.^(DMLBS) [[en|serum]] was taken in the 1670s for a watery animal fluid, especially the clear liquid that separates from clotting blood.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of whey.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of other fluids.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1670s – English ''serum'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # Any similar watery fluid.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[serārius]]

+ * [[serēscō]]

+ * [[serōsus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|serum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ It is distinct from ''sērum'', the neuter of [[sērus]] “late”, as in Livy's ''sērum erat diēī'' “the day was far gone”.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}