fimum

Latin

Alternative forms

• fimus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *fūje-, from earlier *θūje, modeled on Proto-Indo-European *dʰuh₂-yé-ti, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂-. See also Latin furvus (“dark, swarthy”), fūmus (“smoke”) and fūlīgō (“soot”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfɪ.mũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfiː.mum]

Noun

fimum n (genitive fimī); second declension

1. dung, manure, excrement

   Synonyms: stercus, laetāmen

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros,
     Sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     Aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     Inter enim labentur aquae tenuisque subibit
     Halitus atque animos tollent sata; iamque reperti,
     Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     Urgerent; hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	fimum	fima
genitive	fimī	fimōrum
dative	fimō	fimīs
accusative	fimum	fima
ablative	fimō	fimīs
vocative	fimum	fima

Derived terms

• fimārium
• fimētum
• fimicolus

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: fimo
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *femum
  • Gallo-Romance:
    • Catalan: fem
    • Franco-Provençal: fien
    • Old French: fien
  • Ibero-Romance:
    • Aragonese: fiemo
      • → Spanish: fiemo, fimo
  • ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *femārium
    • Old French: femier
      • → Sicilian: fumeri

Noun

fimum

1. accusative singular of fimus

References

• “fimum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.