pelagus

pelagus

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πέλαγος (pélagos).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.la.ɡus/, [ˈpɛɫ̪äɡʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.la.ɡus/, [ˈpɛːläɡus]

Noun

pelagus n (genitive pelagī); second declension

1. the sea
   • Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil), Aeneis, liber VI. In: Virgil with an English translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, vol. I of two volumes, 1916, p. 444f.:

     Ut pelagus tenuere rates nec iam amplius ulla
     occurrit tellus, maria undique et undique caelum,
     olli caeruleus supra caput adstitit imber,
     noctem hiememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris.

     When the ships gained the deep and no longer any land is in sight, but sea on all sides and on all sides sky, then overhead loomed a black raincloud, bringing night and tempest, and the wave shuddered darkling.

   • Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil), Aeneis, liber X. In: Virgil with an English translation by H. Rushton Fairclough, vol. II of two volumes, 1918, p. 196f.:

     ecce, maris magna claudit nos obice pontus,
     deest iam terra fugae; pelagus Troiamne petamus?

     Lo! ocean hems us in with mighty barrier of sea; even now earth fails our flight; shall we seek the main or Troy?

   • Marcus Annaeus Seneca, Suasoriae. In: Stefan Feddern, Die Suasorien des älteren Seneca: Einleitung, Text und Kommentar, 2013, p. 101f.:

     Immensum et humanae intemptatum experientiae pelagus, totius orbis vinculum terrarumque custodia, inagitata remigio vastitas, litora modo saeviente fluctu inquieta, modo fugiente deserta; taetra caligo fluctus premit, et nescio qui, quod humanis natura subduxit oculis, aeterna nox obruit.

   • Letter attributed to Pope Callixtus II:

     In pelagis multarum aquarum crebro cecidi, proximus morti, et evasit codex minime infectus, me exeunte.

   • 17th century, Aristotealoys problematon tmema to ie, p. 179:

     Quae tamen tolli potest, si dixerimus, comparata aqua in pelagis, id est in medio maris, sed in superficie, cum aqua in profundo medii maris, verissimus esse; [...]

2. (rare) the plain, especially in the Aeneid

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter, nominative/accusative/vocative in -us).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pelagus	pelagē
Genitive	pelagī	pelagōrum
Dative	pelagō	pelagīs
Accusative	pelagus	pelagē
Ablative	pelagō	pelagīs
Vocative	pelagus	pelagē

• In general, pelagus is used only in the singular. Rarely, the nominative/accusative/vocative plural form pelagē occurs, borrowed from the Greek original. Likewise rare is the dative/ablative plural pelagīs.
• There is also accusative singular pelagum, which implies masculine gender. This would have nominative and vocative plural *pelagī and accusative plural *pelagōs instead of pelagē.
• The Ancient Greek genitive plural is πελαγῶν (pelagôn), while the Latin second declension genitive plural ends in -ōrum or contracted in -ûm (also spelled -um).

Synonyms

• mare

Related terms

• pelagia
• pelagicus
• pelagius

Descendants

• Asturian: piélagu, pielgu
• Catalan: pèlag, pèlec
• Gallurese: pègulu[1]
• Old Italian: pèlago[2]
  • Italian: pelago
• Old Portuguese: peego, pélago (“stream; lagoon; well”)[3],
  • Galician: piago (“a large well”)[3], pego
  • Portuguese: pego, pélago
• Sardinian:
  • Logudorese: pelagu[1]
• Sicilian: pèlagu (Old Messinese)[2]
• Old Spanish: piélago
  • Spanish: piélago
• Venetian: pellago (Old Venetian), pellego (Old Venetian)[2]
  • Venetian: pièłago

Other formations:

• *im-pelag-āre
  • Spanish: empalagar
    • → Sardinian: impalagare[3]
  • Portuguese: empegar[3]
• *pelag-ālem
  • Ligurian: pelegar (“maritime”) (Old Genoese), peragar (Old Genoese)[2]
• *pelag-ittus
  • Old Italian: pelaghetto[2]

References

1. Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, "pèlago"
2. Pietro G. Beltrami, Lino Leonardi, Paolo Squillacioti, editors (accessed 2021-06-29), “Tesoro della lingua Italiana delle Origini”, in TLIO - Il dizionario storico della lingua italiana‎, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
3. Joan Coromines; José A. Pascual (1984), “empalagar”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 570

• “pelagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pelagus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pelagus 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)
• pelagus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “pelagus”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎