alveus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alveus (“a hollow, cavity; the channel or bed of a river”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæl.vi.əs/

Noun

alveus (plural alvei)

1. (construction, law) The bed or channel of a river, specifically that followed by the river flowing in its natural or ordinary course.
2. (neuroanatomy) A thin layer of medullary nerve fibers on the ventricular surface of the hippocampus.

References

• John Weale (1860) Rudimentary Dictionary of Terms Used in Architecture, Civil, Architecture, Naval, Building and Construction‎^[1], page 12, column 2: “Alveus, in hydrography, the channel or belly of a river.”
• “alveus”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “alveus”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• avulse, values

Latin

Alternative forms

• alveum

Etymology

From alvus (“the belly, paunch, bowels”) +‎ -eus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.u̯e.us/, [ˈäɫ̪u̯eʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ve.us/, [ˈälveus]

Noun

alveus m (genitive alveī); second declension

1. (in general) hollow, cavity
2. (especially):
   1. hollow, deep vessel, basket, trough, tray; deep cavity, excavation
      • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.407–408:

        Sustinet impositōs summā cavus alveus undā: heu, quantum fātī parva tabella tulit!

        The vessel supports the [babies] laid there on the surface of the water: oh, what a fate the little plank bore!

      1. trough for feeding pigs
         • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 24.67:

           Sed ad liēnem praecipua est, sī sūcus eius expressus in vīnō bibātur. Adeōque mīrābilem eius antipathīān contrā sōlum hoc viscerum faciunt, ut adfirment, sī ex eā alveīs factīs bibant suēs sine liēne invenīrī.

           But it is of special effect for the spleen, if its juice, squeezed out, is drunk in wine. So extraordinary do they make out its antipathy against this specific organ to be, that they affirm that if pigs drink from troughs made out of it, they'll be found without a spleen.

      2. (derogatory, humorous) dish for food
         • c. 27 CE – 66 CE, Petronius, Satyricon 66:

           Etiam in alveō circumlāta sunt oxycomina, unde quīdam etiam improbē ternōs pugnōs sustulērunt.

           Pickled olives were also brought round in a dish, from where some voraciously took three fistfuls.

   2. (nautical) hold, hull
      • c. 117 CE, Tacitus, Annales 14.29:

        Igitur Monam īnsulam, incolīs validam et receptāculum perfugārum, adgredī parat, navēsque fābricātur plānō alveō adversus breve et incertum.

        So he prepares to attack the island of Anglesey, considerable in population and a haven for deserters, and builds ships with a flat hull in view of the short and uncertain channel.

      1. (metonymically) small ship, boat, skiff
         • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 6.411–414:

           Inde aliās animās, quae per iuga longa sedēbant, dēturbat laxatque forōs; simul accipit alve̯ō ingentem Aenēam. Gemuit sub pondere cumba sūtilis et multam accēpit rīmōsa palūdem.

           Then the other souls, sitting on the long thwarts, he routs out and clears the gangways; at once he takes in the ship the giant Aeneas. The seamy boat creaks under the weight and, full of fissures, takes marshy water in.

   3. (board games) hollowed gaming board
   4. beehive

      Synonyms: alvus, alveārium, alvārium

   5. bathtub
      • 56 BCE, Cicero, Pro Caelio 67:

        Praegestit animus iam vidēre prīmum lautōs iuvenēs mulieris beātae ac nōbilis familiārēs, deinde fortēs virōs ab imperātrīce in īnsidiīs atque in praesidiō balneārum collocātōs; ex quibus requīram, quem ad modum latuerint aut ubī, alveusne ille an equus Troiānus fuerit, quī tot invictōs virōs muliebre bellum gerentēs tulerit ac texerit.

        The soul is thrilled to now see, first, luxurious young men, acquaintances of a rich and well-known woman, and second, strong men posted by their commandress in the ambush and garrison of the baths; for which I'd ask, how did they hide and where, and whether that was a bathtub or a Trojan Horse, which carried and hid so many invincible men fighting a war for a woman.

   6. (construction) riverbed, river channel; canal

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	alveus	alveī
Genitive	alveī	alveōrum
Dative	alveō	alveīs
Accusative	alveum	alveōs
Ablative	alveō	alveīs
Vocative	alvee	alveī

Derived terms

• alveārium
• alveātus
• alveolus

Related terms

• alvārium
• alveolātus
• alvus

Descendants

Descendants of alveus in other languages

• Aromanian: alghinã
• Catalan: obi
• → English: alveus
• French: auge
• Istro-Romanian: albire
• → Italian: alveo
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: albio
  • Piedmontese: arbi
  • Romagnol: ébi (Ravenna)
• Occitan: auve
• Megleno-Romanian: ălbină
• → Portuguese: álveo
• Romanian: albie, albină
• → Spanish: álveo
• Venetian: albi, albio, albina

References

• “alveus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “alveus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• alveus 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)