cernuus Latin · revision 6071
16 Oct 2026, 04:50 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited, compound|attested=Lucilius|origins=ine-pro *ḱerh₂-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛr.nu.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.nu.us]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''cernuus''' (feminine cernua, neuter cernuum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*kēro-nowo-]], explained by Nussbaum as [[ine-pro|*ḱērh₂o-nowo-|t=inclining the head]], with a first part [[ine-pro|*ḱērh₂-o-|t=head]], the same as [[ae|sāra-|t=head]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) It is related to [[cerebrum]] “brain”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Nonius explained it as one who looks at the ground, as though from [[cernō]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan dates it from Lucilius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Köbler dates Lucilius c. 180–102 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant head foremost, falling or bending forward, as Virgil's horse that falls headlong on its rider.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis and Short call it rare and poetic.^(Lewis & Short 1879) As a noun it was used by Lucilius of a tumbler or acrobat, and Festus and Isidore of Seville record a kind of shoe of that name.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its derivative ''cernuāre'' meant “to fall head first”.^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ In Medieval Latin it meant prone, bent forward in prayer, and also of a low voice.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a tumbler.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a falling horse.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville records it as a kind of shoe.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # [[m|en|Headlong]], head foremost, bending forward.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|Prone]], bowed, (of the voice) low.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|tumbler]], acrobat.^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ # A kind of shoe.^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[cernuō]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[cerebrum]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}