pilum
English
Noun
- (historical) A Roman military javelin.
- 1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Penguin 2000, p. 21:
- Besides a lighter spear, the Roman legionary grasped in his right hand the formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin whose utmost length was about six feet and which was terminated by a massy triangular point of steel of about eighteen inches.
- 2011, Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London, Gollancz 2011, p. 371:
- Verica plucked a pilum from the hands of the nearest legionary – the soldier didn't react – and handed it to me.
- 1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Penguin 2000, p. 21:
- (botany) The columella on the surface of a pollen grain
Translations
Roman military javelin
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Latin

pīlum (throwing spear)
Etymology 1
From Proto-Italic *pistlom, from Proto-Indo-European *pis-tlo-, from *peys- (“to crush”). See pistillum and pīla.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈpiː.lum/, [ˈpiː.ɫũ]
Inflection
Second declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | pīlum | pīla |
Genitive | pīlī | pīlōrum |
Dative | pīlō | pīlīs |
Accusative | pīlum | pīla |
Ablative | pīlō | pīlīs |
Vocative | pīlum | pīla |
Related terms
Descendants
References
- pilum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- pilum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- pilum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) to throw down the javelins (pila) and fight with the sword: omissis pilis gladiis rem gerere
- (ambiguous) to throw down the javelins (pila) and fight with the sword: omissis pilis gladiis rem gerere
- pilum in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- pilum in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
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