puteus Latin · revision 7464

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpʊ.te.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpuː.te.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''puteus''' ''m'' (genitive puteī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown; the OLD calls it doubtful and the TLL says nothing is established about it.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan suggests a loanword, according to Wiktionary, which also reports a derivation from [[ine-pro|*pewH-|t=to cut, strike]], the root Köbler gives.^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Lewis and Short connected it with [[pūrus]], which the others do not.^(Lewis & Short 1879) A neuter ⟨puteum⟩ is also found, as in Varro.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a well.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a well, as in Plautus and Cicero's ''puteī iūgēs'' “perennial wells”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) The TLL takes its first sense to have been something dug.^(TLL) From Virgil it meant any deep pit, in Pliny the Elder a mine shaft, and in Plautus a pit for prisoners or for storing grain.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Seneca it seems to have meant a fiery phenomenon in the sky.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a pit, well, trench or grave.^(Stelten 1995) It survives in Italian ''pozzo'', French ''puits'' and Spanish ''pozo''.^(Wiktionary) Köbler derives Old English ''pytt'' from it through a Germanic ''*puti-'', whence [[en|pit]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a well and of a pit for prisoners.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a deep pit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

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

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # A pit; a [[m|en|shaft]]; a pit for prisoners or grain.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A fiery phenomenon in the sky.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[puteal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[puticulī]]

+ * [[en|pit]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}