scaevus Latin · revision 6064

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *skeh₂-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''scaevus''' (feminine scaeva, neuter scaevum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*skaiwo-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*skeh₂-i-wo-|t=shaded; left]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|σκαιός|tr=skaiós|t=left; awkward]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Following Steinbauer, de Vaan derives it from a root [[ine-pro|*sḱeh₂-(i-)|t=to shine]], which also gave words for shade such as [[grc|σκιά|tr=skiá|t=shadow]] and [[sa|छाया|tr=chāyā́|t=shadow]]: the shaded side came to mean the west, and the shaded or improper hand the left.^(de Vaan 2008) Latin has a rhyming word [[laevus]] of the same meaning.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler takes it as a borrowing of the Greek word.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Vitruvius, and its noun ''scaeva'' “omen” from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler gives Plautus as the first source.^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Vitruvius c. 84–c. 25 BC and Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant left, of the hand, as in Seneca, and of omens and events inauspicious, unlucky, as in Apuleius, where it is most frequent.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of people it meant awkward, perverse, misguided, as Sallust's ''scaevus iste Rōmulus'' “that perverse Romulus” and Gellius.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis and Short call it rare, with [[laevus]] and [[sinister]] as its synonyms.^(Lewis & Short 1879) ''Scaevola'' was a phallic charm, and the cognomen of the Mucii.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the noun ''scaeva'' “omen”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 86–34 BC – Sallust calls Sulla a perverse Romulus.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the left hand.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of unlucky events.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(of the hand)'' [[m|en|Left]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of omens)'' [[m|en|Inauspicious]], unlucky.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|Perverse]], misguided, awkward.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[scaeuitās]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[laevus]]

+ * [[obscūrus]]

+ * [[sinister]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}