calamus Latin · revision 8468

16 Oct 2026, 16:03 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
Initial text

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Plautus|origins=grc κάλαμος}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈka.ɫa.mʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.la.mus]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''calamus''' ''m'' (genitive calamī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|grc|κάλαμος|tr=kálamos|t=reed]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) Wiktionary calls it a doublet of the native [[culmus]] “stalk”.^(Wiktionary) Isidore derived the musical reed from ⟨calēre⟩, pouring out sounds.^(Isidore)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a reed pen.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a reed, a cane, as in Pliny the Elder, and in Plautus a reed pen for writing in ink, as opposed to the metal ''stilus''.^(OLD 2012) In Virgil it meant a reed pipe, an arrow, a vine prop and a stalk, and in Propertius a fishing rod and a lime twig for catching birds.^(OLD 2012) Döderlein explains that ''culmus'' is the stalk with regard to its slender height, ''calamus'' with regard to its hollowness.^(Döderlein 1874)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a reed, pen, fishing rod.^(Stelten 1995) British Medieval Latin used it for a reed, the sweet flag, and a corn stalk, stubble.^(DMLBS) It survives in Italian ''calamo'' and as French ''chaume'' “stubble”, and was borrowed into English as [[m|en|calamus]], the sweet flag.^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a pen.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a pipe and an arrow.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a reed.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|reed]], cane.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A reed pen.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A reed pipe.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A fishing rod; a lime twig.^(OLD 2012)
+ # An arrow; a vine prop; a stalk.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[calamārius]]
+ * [[calamellus]]
+ * [[calamister]]
+ * [[calamistrum]]
+ * [[ūnicalamus]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[culmus]]
+ * [[canna]]
+ * [[calamitās]]
+ 
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Döderlein distinguishes it from [[culmus]].^(Döderlein 1874)
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}