Probably from vetus (“old”) + -īnus, formed at a time when vetus was still a substantive meaning year (compare Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos, “year”)). De Vaan invokes Adams's observation that veterīnus refers to horses in particular and were thus seen as "the old stock", due to horses living longer than other domesticated cattle-type animals.[1] Morphologically less likely, but semantically better is a connexion to vehō (“I transport”).
veterīnus (feminine veterīna, neuter veterīnum); first/second-declension adjective
First/second-declension adjective.
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
nominative | veterīnus | veterīna | veterīnum | veterīnī | veterīnae | veterīna | |
genitive | veterīnī | veterīnae | veterīnī | veterīnōrum | veterīnārum | veterīnōrum | |
dative | veterīnō | veterīnae | veterīnō | veterīnīs | |||
accusative | veterīnum | veterīnam | veterīnum | veterīnōs | veterīnās | veterīna | |
ablative | veterīnō | veterīnā | veterīnō | veterīnīs | |||
vocative | veterīne | veterīna | veterīnum | veterīnī | veterīnae | veterīna |