prima vera

Latin

Etymology

Feminized counterpart to prīmum vēr, attested in Late Latin glosses. Originally referred to the early part of spring, but eventually took on the general sense of 'spring' in all Romance varieties, some later than others. This semantic shift pushed the derivatives of Vulgar Latin *vēra and *vērānum, which had originally meant 'spring', into taking on the sense of 'summer' in Iberia and the Balkans respectively.

Noun

prīma vēra f (genitive prīmae vērae); first declension

(Late Latin) early spring

Declension

First-declension adjective with a first-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	prīma vēra	prīmae vērae
Genitive	prīmae vērae	prīmārum vērārum
Dative	prīmae vērae	prīmīs vērīs
Accusative	prīmam vēram	prīmās vērās
Ablative	prīmā vērā	prīmīs vērīs
Vocative	prīma vēra	prīmae vērae

Descendants

Balkan Romance:
- Aromanian: primuvearã, prumuvearã, primãvearã, prãmviare
- Romanian: primăvară
- → Albanian: pranverë
Italo-Romanian:
- Italian: primavera
- Sicilian: primavera
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: primevere
- Romansch: primavaira, permavera, prümavaira
Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Old French: primevoire, primevoile, prime vere (“spring”)
  - French: primevère (“primrose flower”)
Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Catalan: primavera
- Old Occitan: primavera
  - Gascon: primavèra
  - ⇒ Occitan: prima (shortening)
Ibero-Romance:
- Asturian: primavera
- Old Portuguese: primavera (“early spring”)
  - Galician: primavera (“spring”)
  - Portuguese: primavera (“spring”)
- Old Spanish: primavera (“early spring”)
  - Spanish: primavera (“spring”)

References

von Wartburg, Walther (1928–2002), “ver”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 140, page 272

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