pilum Latin · revision 9118

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpiː.ɫũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpiː.lum]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pīlum''' ''n'' (genitive pīlī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*pistlom|t=pestle]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pis-tlom]], from [[ine-pro|*peys-|t=to crush]], the root of [[pīnsō]] “to pound”.^(Wiktionary)^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The OLD takes the javelin to be probably the same word as the pestle.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a mechanical pounder.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first sources are Cato, for the pestle, and Ennius.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a pestle, as in Cato's ''pīlum fabārium'' for beans.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) It was also the heavy throwing spear of the Roman legionary, as in Caesar and Cicero, ''pīlum mūrāle'' was a pike used by defenders of fortifications.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Medieval Latin it meant a stake, a pile.^(Niermeyer 1976) Latin ''pīlum'' gave late Old English ''pīl'' “sharp stake”, [[en|pile]] in the sense of a stake driven into the ground.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a pestle.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of the javelin.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

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

+ # A [[m|en|javelin]], the Roman legionary's throwing spear.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A stake, pile.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[compīlō]]

+ * [[pilus]]

+ * [[pīlātus]]

+ * [[praepilātus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pīla]]

+ * [[pīnsō]]

+ * [[pistillum]]

+ * [[en|pile]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}