pecus Latin · revision 9578
16 Oct 2026, 19:13 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{homograph|1|livestock}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Livius Andronicus|origins=ine-pro *péḱos}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.kus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''pecus''' ''n'' (genitive pecoris); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The collective noun is [[inh|itc-pro|*pekos]], [[inh|ine-pro|*péḱos|t=livestock; what is fleeced]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) It is related to [[pecū]] “cattle”, from [[m|ine-pro|*peḱu-]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD compares [[grc|πέκος|tr=pékos|t=fleece]], and Lewis & Short compare [[got|𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿|tr=faihu|t=property]], German ⟨Vieh⟩ and [[en|fee]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's earliest source is Livius Andronicus, whom he dates 280/260–before 200 BC, and the OLD's first citation is from Cato.^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was farm animals collectively, livestock, especially sheep and cattle, as in Cato; in the plural farm and domestic animals, as in Caesar; and in the singular one animal, as in Accius.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it was sheep, cattle, a herd.^(Stelten 1995) Wiktionary notes derogatory uses for a mindless crowd.^(Wiktionary) British Medieval Latin used it for a domestic animal.^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of livestock.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses the plural.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # [[m|en|livestock|alt=Livestock]], cattle, sheep (collectively).^(OLD 2012)
+ # (plural) Farm animals, (singular) one animal.^(OLD 2012)
+ # (figurative) A herd of people, rabble.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[pecorālis]]
+ * [[pecorōsus]]
+ * [[pecusculum]]
+ * [[pecorārius]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|single animal}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Ennius|origins=ine-pro *peḱu-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛː.kus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''pecus''' ''f'' (genitive pecudis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ Accius, Sisenna and Cicero have a neuter plural ''pecuda'', and Ennius uses it as masculine.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The single beast is formed on the same root as [[pecū]], with a stem in ⟨-ud-⟩ whose origin de Vaan finds unclear.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Köbler's earliest source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC, and the OLD's first citation is from Plautus.^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It was a single animal of the farm, a head of livestock, as in Plautus and Cicero, and an animal as opposed to a human being, a beast, as in Lucretius and Cicero's ''quantum nātūra hominis pecudibus antecēdit''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Isidore says that ''pecus'' is every creature that lacks human speech and form.^(Isidore)
+
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it was a single head of cattle, a beast, a brute.^(Stelten 1995)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a beast.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A single farm animal, a head of cattle, a sheep.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+ # A beast, [[m|en|brute]].^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[pecudalis]]
+ * [[pecudifer]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[pecū]]
+ * [[pecuārius]]
+ * [[pecūnia]]
+ * [[pecūlium]]
+ * [[en|fee]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}