camum

Latin

Etymology 1

Uncertain; seemingly of non-Latin Proto-Indo-European origin. Perhaps in some way related to Proto-Celtic *kurmi (“beer”).

Cited in Greek sources as a drink characteristic of the Paeonians and of the savages north of the Danube. See κάμον for quotations.

Noun

camum n (genitive camī); second declension (Late Latin, rare)

1. barley-beer
   • c. 211 CE – 217 CE, Ulpian, Libri ad Sabinum XXIII (quoted from Justinian's Digest):

     Certe zythum quod in quibusdam provinciis ex tritico vel ex hordeo vel ex pane conficitur [vini appellatione] non continebitur simili modo nec camum nec cervesia continebitur nec hydromeli.

     Of course zythum — which is made in certain provinces from wheat, barley, or bread^[sic] — will not fall under the designation of 'wine'; likewise camum, cervesia, and hydromeli will not either.

   • 301 CE, Edict of Diocletian II.11:

     cervesiae <sive> cami

     ...of wheat-beer [or] of barley-beer...

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	camum	cama
Genitive	camī	camōrum
Dative	camō	camīs
Accusative	camum	cama
Ablative	camō	camīs
Vocative	camum	cama

Coordinate terms

• cēlia, cervēsa, zythum

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: κάμον (kámon)

References

• “camum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• camum 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)
• camum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Etymology 2

Noun

cāmum

1. accusative singular of cāmus