vervēx
Meaning
- wether (castrated ram)
- derogatoryblockhead, dolt
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | vervēx | vervēcēs berbēcēs, berbicēs |
| genitive | vervēcis berbēcis, berbicis | vervēcum berbēcum, berbicum |
| dative | vervēcī berbēcī, berbicī | vervēcibus berbēcibus, berbicibus |
| accusative | vervēcem berbēcem, berbicem | vervēcēs berbēcēs, berbicēs |
| ablative | vervēce berbēce, berbice | vervēcibus berbēcibus, berbicibus |
| vocative | vervēx | vervēcēs berbēcēs, berbicēs |
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
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”).
- Frenchbrebis
- Italianbersagliofrom Old French berser
- Italianberbice
- Occitanberbitz
- Romanianberbec
- Romanianberbece
- Sardinianberbeche
- Sardinianverveche
- Sardinianbrebei
- Aromanianbirbec