aratrum

Latin

Alternative forms

arāter m

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂érh₃trom (“plough; ard”) (with long ā by analogy to the related verb arō, arāre (“to plough”); the expected outcome would otherwise be **aratrum).^[1]^[2] According to the linguist Margaret M. T. Watmough, the remodeling perhaps occured when a series of vowel weaknings (i.e. *aratrom > *aretrum) had obfuscated the relation to the verb arō.^[3]

Equivalent to arō (“to plough”) +‎ -trum. Cognate with Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́ροτρον (ắrotron, “plough”), Old Armenian արաւր (arawr, “plough”), Welsh aradr (“plough”), Sanskrit अ॒रित्र॑ (arítra, “oar”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [aˈraː.trũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [aˈraː.trum]

Noun

arātrum n (genitive arātrī); second declension

plough or plow (a device pulled through the ground in order to break it open into furrows for planting)
- 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.497:
  tempus erat quō versa iugō referuntur arātra
  It was the hour when [up]turned plows are being brought back by yoked [oxen]
  (“versa arātra”: i.e., plows somehow turned so that the plowshares are not in contact with the soil. See: Plough.)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	arātrum	arātra
genitive	arātrī	arātrōrum
dative	arātrō	arātrīs
accusative	arātrum	arātra
ablative	arātrō	arātrīs
vocative	arātrum	arātra

Derived terms

arātrō

Related terms

Descendants

Balkano-Romance:
- Aromanian: aratru, arat
- Megleno-Romanian: ărat
- Romanian: arat
Italo-Romance:
- Italian: aratro, (obsolete) arato
- Sicilian: aratu
Gallo-Romance:
- Catalan: aradre (obsolete), aladre, arada
- Franco-Provençal: arâro
- Occitan: araire
  - → Middle French: araire
    - French: araire
- Old French: arere
Ibero-Romance:
- Aragonese: aladro, alatre (Belsetán), aladre (Biescas)
  - → Spanish: (Aragón, Navarra) aladro
- Asturian: aladru
- Galician: arado
- Portuguese: arado
- Old Spanish: aradro
  - Spanish: arado
    - → Sardinian: aradu

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “arō, -āre (> Derivatives > arātrum)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 55
^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 99
^ Watmough, Margaret M. T. (1995), “The Suffix -tor-: Agent-Noun Formation in Latin and the Other Italic Languages”, in Glotta‎^[1], volume 73, number 1/4, →ISSN, page 86

“aratrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“aratrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"aratrum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
“aratrum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
“aratrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
“aratrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “arō, -āre (> Derivatives > arātrum)”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 55

[2] Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 99

[3] Watmough, Margaret M. T. (1995), “The Suffix -tor-: Agent-Noun Formation in Latin and the Other Italic Languages”, in Glotta‎^[1], volume 73, number 1/4, →ISSN, page 86

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