iumentum
Latin
Etymology
From Old Latin iouxmentom, from Proto-Italic *jouksmentom, a back-formation from iumenta, from iungere (“to yoke, to join”) + -menta (“forming collective nouns”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /i̯uːˈmen.tum/, [i̯uːˈmɛn̪t̪ʊ̃ˑ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /juˈmen.tum/, [juˈmɛn̪t̪um]
Noun
iūmentum n (genitive iūmentī); second declension
- (zoology) A draft animal, a beast of burden, a large domestic animal suitable for drawing carts and carriages: a cow, horse, mule, or donkey.
- 1st century, L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, De Res Rustica, Book VI, Preface, Sect. 3:
- Unde etiam iumenta et armenta nomina a re traxere quod nostrum laborem vel onera subvectando vel arando iuvarent.
- And so it is that iumenta and armenta draw their names from the fact that they aid our work either by bringing up burdens or by plowing.
- Unde etiam iumenta et armenta nomina a re traxere quod nostrum laborem vel onera subvectando vel arando iuvarent.
- 1st century, L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, De Res Rustica, Book VI, Preface, Sect. 3:
- (zoology) Synonym of iumenta: such animals taken collectively.
- (vehicles) A vehicle drawn by such animals: a wagon, a carriage, a cart.
Usage notes
In Latin, iumenta are distinguished both from the armenta used to draw ploughs and from weaker domestic animals (pecora) unable to pull heavy loads such as riding horses and donkeys used only as pack animals.
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | iūmentum | iūmenta |
| Genitive | iūmentī | iūmentōrum |
| Dative | iūmentō | iūmentīs |
| Accusative | iūmentum | iūmenta |
| Ablative | iūmentō | iūmentīs |
| Vocative | iūmentum | iūmenta |
Synonyms
- (vehicle): carrus, plaustrum
Hyponyms
- (beast of burden): bos, equus, asinus, mulus
Derived terms
- iūmentārius
Descendants
- Franco-Provençal: jument
- French: jument
- English: jument
- Italian: giumento, giumenta
- Norman: jeunment
- Portuguese: jumento
- Romansch: gumain
- Sicilian: jimenta
- Spanish: jumento
References
- “iumentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- iumentum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- "Pecus; Jumentum; Armentum; Grex" in H.H. Arnold's translation of Ludwig von Döderlein's Hand-Book of Latin Synonymes (1841), pp. 158–9.