armentum
Latin
Alternative forms
- armenta (1st declension)
Etymology
A reanalysis of the older feminine singular armenta as a neuter plural, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-mn̥-teh₂, from *h₂er- (“to join”) + *-mn̥ + *-teh₂. Semantic development was "grouping, joining" > "herd". Related to arma.[1]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /arˈmen.tum/, [arˈmɛn.tũː]
Noun
armentum n (genitive armentī); second declension
- (zoology) A draft animal, a large domestic animal suitable for drawing a plow: an ox, a horse.
- 1st century, L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, De Res Rustica, Book VI, Preface, Sect. 3:
- Unde etiam iumenta et armenta nomina a re traxere quod nostrum laborem vel onera subvectando vel arando iuvarent.
- And so it is that iumenta and armenta draw their names from the fact that they aid our work either by bringing up burdens or by plowing.
- Unde etiam iumenta et armenta nomina a re traxere quod nostrum laborem vel onera subvectando vel arando iuvarent.
- 1st century, L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, De Res Rustica, Book VI, Preface, Sect. 3:
- (zoology) Synonym of armenta: such animals taken collectively.
Usage notes
In Latin, armenta are distinguished both from the iumenta used to draw carts and from weaker domestic animals (pecora) unable to pull heavy loads such as milk cows and horses used only as mounts.
Declension
Second declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | armentum | armenta |
Genitive | armentī | armentōrum |
Dative | armentō | armentīs |
Accusative | armentum | armenta |
Ablative | armentō | armentīs |
Vocative | armentum | armenta |
Citations
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 54
Bibliography
- armentum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- armentum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- armentum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- armentum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- "Pecus; Jumentum; Armentum; Grex" in H.H. Arnold's translation of Ludwig von Döderlein's Hand-Book of Latin Synonymes (1841), pp. 158–9.
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