helvus
Meaning
- adjectivedun, yellow dun
qui gregem armentorum emere vult, observare debet primum, ut sint eae pecudes aetate potius ad fructos ferendos integrae quam iam expartae; ut sint bene conpositae, [...] colore potissimum nigro, deinde robeo, tertio helvo, quarto albo: mollissimus enim hic, ut durissimus primus. de mediis duobus prior quam posterior in eo prior, utrique plures quam nigri et albi.
116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, Rerum rusticarum 2.7Sunt et Helvolae, quās nōn nūllī variās appellant, neque purpureae neque nigrae, ab helvō, nisi fallor, colōre vocitātae.
There are also the Helvolae [grapes], which some call variae. They are neither purple nor black; the name, if I'm not wrong, is from the color "dun".4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De re rustica 3.2
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Luteus · Gilvus · Helvus · Flavus · Luridus
Luteus (from λωτός) denotes a decided yellow, as the yolk of an egg; gilvus, (ἀγλαός) and helvus, a fainter reddish yellow, like that of honey; flavus and luridus, a lighter whitish yellow; flavus (from φλεύω) a glossy beautiful yellow, like that of light auburn hair; luridus (from χλωρός) a wan unpleasant yellowishness, like that of pale death.
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | helvus | helva | helvum |
| genitive | helvī | helvae | helvī |
| dative | helvō | helvae | helvō |
| accusative | helvum | helvam | helvum |
| ablative | helvō | helvā | helvō |
| vocative | helve | helva | helvum |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | helvī | helvae | helva |
| genitive | helvōrum | helvārum | helvōrum |
| dative | helvīs | helvīs | helvīs |
| accusative | helvōs | helvās | helva |
| ablative | helvīs | helvīs | helvīs |
| vocative | helvī | helvae | helva |
color vaccarum, Varr. R. R. 2, 5, 9; cf.: color boum, qui est inter rufum et album, appellatur helvus, Paul. ex Fest. s. v. † helvacea, p. 99 Müll.Origins
Disputed. De Vaan posits a derivation from Proto-Italic *heliwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-i-wó-s, itself from the addition of *-wos to *ǵʰolh₃-i-s, which is attested in Sanskrit हरि (hari). Nussbaum argues that the term must come from a pre-form *helVwos and would have emerged via the syncopation of the segment *-lVw- (compare Latin solvō, from *seluō). Furthermore, Nussbaum specifies that the pre-form must have been *heliwos at the time /l/ was velarized throughout Latin, as an alternative form would have—according to Nussbaum—evolved into *heɫw- following velarization and then into *holw-, as /eɫ/ evolved into /oɫ/ in initial syllables (compare *welō > volō). Sihler proposes a pre-form *hellwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ghelswo-. Sihler compares the term to Lithuanian gel̃svas, although De Vaan considers the Proto-Indo-European form posited by Sihler to be uncertain, as the only cognate—the Lithuanian term—could have been formed by a productive suffix within Lithuanian. In both proposals, the term ultimately originates from the root *ǵʰelh₃-. It has also been suggested the term is a borrowing from the Sabellic languages.
- Italianelvo
In English words that came into English from helvus
- helvitehelvus