alimentum

Latin

Etymology

Derived from alō (“I nourish, sustain”) +‎ -mentum (“instrument, medium”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [a.lɪˈmɛn.tũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a.liˈmɛn̪.t̪um]

Noun

alimentum n (genitive alimentī); second declension

1. food, nourishment, nutriment, sustenance, provisions

   Synonyms: vīctus, nūtrīmentum, pābulum, alimōnia, alimōnium

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 4.401–402:

     prīma Cerēs homine ad meliōra alimenta vocātō
     mūtāvit glandēs ūtiliōre cibō.

     Having called man to better nourishment, Ceres first
     exchanged acorns with more useful food.
     (See Ceres (mythology).)

2. obligation to one's parents
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, De Re Publica 1.4:

     neque enim hac nos patria lege genuit aut educavit, ut nulla quasi alimenta exspectaret a nobis

     Neither did this country give birth to or educate us, only to expect no sustenance in return.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	alimentum	alimenta
genitive	alimentī	alimentōrum
dative	alimentō	alimentīs
accusative	alimentum	alimenta
ablative	alimentō	alimentīs
vocative	alimentum	alimenta

Related terms

• alimentārius
• alimōnia
• alimōnium
• alō

Descendants

• Catalan: aliment
• French: aliment
• Galician: alimento
• Italian: alimento
• Mirandese: alimiento
• Occitan: aliment
• Portuguese: alimento
• Romanian: aliment
• Spanish: alimento
• → English: aliment
• → German: Alimente
  • → Lower Sorbian: alimenty

References

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