mutūnium
Meaning
- vulgarpenis
[pumpeis] fueere·quondam·uibii·opulentissumi non·ideo·tenuerunt·in manu·sceptrum pro mutunió itidem quod·tu·factitas·cottidie·in manu penem tenes
[in Pompeii?] there once were the very wealthy Vibii, They did not hold in their hands a scepter for a member(?) in the way that you frequently do every day holding your penis in your hand.before 79 AD, C.I.L 4.1939 (graffiti inscribed in the basilica of Pompeii)muthunium
before 79 AD, C.I.L 4.1940 (Pompeiian graffiti)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | mutūnium mutōnium | mutūnia mutōnia |
| genitive | mutūniī mutūnī, mutōnī, mutōniī | mutūniōrum mutōniōrum |
| dative | mutūniō mutōniō | mutūniīs mutōniīs |
| accusative | mutūnium mutōnium | mutūnia mutōnia |
| ablative | mutūniō mutōniō | mutūniīs mutōniīs |
| vocative | mutūnium mutōnium | mutūnia mutōnia |
Origins
Probably from mūtō (“penis”) + -ium; compare pecūlium (used with a sexual sense in Plautus and Petronius). The derived adjective mutūniātus scans with a short first syllable; Weiss (1996) proposes that this is a case of a geminate being shortened after an unaccented vowel, as seen in sacellus for saccellus (compare mamilla from mamma). The reason for the variation in the vowel in the second syllable is unclear. Weiss proposes the following origin for forms with ū in this family of words: initially, the root was combined with the suffix -īnus, forming an adjective mū̆tīnus. After becoming used as the name of a god, Mutunus Tutunus, the form Mū̆tīnus was altered to Mū̆tūnus under the influence of other deity names ending in -ūnus, such as Neptūnus and Portūnus, and then the ū in the second syllable of Mū̆tūnus served as the basis of ū in the second syllable of forms like mū̆tūnium and mutūniātus.