vallus Latin · revision 9350
16 Oct 2026, 18:25 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{homograph|1|stake, palisade}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Cato|origins=ine-pro *wel-}}
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''vallus''' ''m'' (genitive vallī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The stake is compared by the OLD with [[sa|वल|tr=valá-|t=beam, pole]] and [[got|𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌿𐍃|tr=walus|t=staff]].^(OLD 2012) Köbler connects it with [[ine-pro|*wel-|t=to turn, roll]].^(Köbler 2010) Lewis & Short compare [[grc|ἧλος|tr=hêlos|t=nail]].^(Lewis & Short 1879) [[vallum]] “rampart, palisade” is formed from it.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's earliest source is Cato, whom he dates 234–149 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was a sharpened post or stake, especially one of those that made a military palisade, often in the collective singular, as in Caesar, and the palisade itself.^(OLD 2012) Virgil used it of stakes supporting vines, and Cicero and Livy of palisade stakes.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Pliny the Elder used it of a reaping machine with a toothed frame.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ British Medieval Latin kept the sense stake, post, a piece of wood for a palisade, and had it in heraldry.^(DMLBS) Through ⟨vallum⟩, an early Germanic borrowing gave Old English ''weall'' and [[en|wall]].^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a palisade.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a reaping machine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|stake]], post; a stake for a [[m|en|palisade]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # A palisade, palisaded earthwork.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|reaping]] machine with a toothed frame.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[vallum]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|winnowing basket}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Varro|origins=la vannus}}
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''vallus''' ''m'' (genitive vallī); second declension^(Wiktionary)
+ It is feminine, with genitive ''vallī'' or ''vallūs''; a neuter ''vallum'' also occurs.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The winnowing basket is a diminutive of [[vannus]] “winnowing fan” with the suffix [[-lus]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD and Lewis & Short cite Varro, of a small winnowing basket.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was a small winnowing basket, probably the same as the ⟨vannus⟩, as in Varro, and Cato used it of a half-round gutter tile, named from its shape.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a gutter tile.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a winnowing basket.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A small [[m|en|winnowing]] basket.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # A half-round gutter [[m|en|tile]].^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[vannus]]
+ * [[en|wall]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}