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vervex. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vervex, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vervex in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
vervex you have here. The definition of the word
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vervex, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Latin
Etymology
Uncertain.
- Traditionally connected to Proto-Indo-European *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”, acc. *wr̥h₁énm̥, gen. *wr̥h₁nós), but with unusual suffixation *-w-ēk- (for -ēx, compare -ex with a short vowel found in some other names of plants and animals), which along with other problems makes this derivation difficult to motivate. Possibly borrowed from another Indo-European language, which could also explain the alternation ⟨v ~ b⟩. Cognates would include Sanskrit उरण (úraṇa), Old Armenian գառն (gaṙn) and Ancient Greek ἀρήν (arḗn, “lamb”).
- For an alternative, de Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *wérwos (“wool”, s-stem), whence Ancient Greek εἶρος (eîros, “wool; cottonweed; a type of fever”), which may be related to the above, or may be from a root *wer(H)- (“to spin”).
Pronunciation
Noun
vervēx m (genitive vervēcis); third declension
- wether (castrated ram)
- (derogatory) blockhead, dolt
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:homo stultus
Declension
Third-declension noun.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “vervex, -ēcis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 668–669
Further reading
- “vervex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “vervex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- vervex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.