iumentum

Latin

Alternative forms

iouxmentom (Old Latin)
jūmentum (alt. spelling)

Etymology

Perhaps from Proto-Italic *jouksməntom, itself an extension of earlier Proto-Indo-European *yéwgmn̥ (“yoking”), from *yewg- (“to yoke”).^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [juːˈmɛn.tũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [juˈmɛn.tum]

Noun

iūmentum n (genitive iūmentī); second declension

(zoology) A draft animal, a beast of burden, a large domestic animal suitable for drawing carts and carriages: a cow, horse, mule, or donkey.
Synonym: veterīnum

Hyponyms: asinus, bōs, equus, mūlus
- 1st century, L. Iunius Moderatus Columella, De Res Rustica, Book VI, Preface, Sect. 3:
  Unde etiam iūmenta et armenta nōmina ā rē trāxēre quod nostrum labōrem vel onera subvectandō vel arandō iuvārent.
  And so it is that iumenta and armenta draw their names from the fact that they aid our work either by bringing up burdens or by plowing.
(zoology) synonym of iūmenta: such animals taken collectively.
(vehicles) A vehicle drawn by such animals: a wagon, a carriage, a cart.
Synonyms: carrus, plaustrum
(Late Latin) mare, female horse (Lex Salica)^[3]

Usage notes

In Latin, iūmenta are distinguished both from the armenta used to draw ploughs and from weaker domestic animals (pecora) unable to pull heavy loads such as riding horses and donkeys used only as pack animals.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	iūmentum	iūmenta
genitive	iūmentī	iūmentōrum
dative	iūmentō	iūmentīs
accusative	iūmentum	iūmenta
ablative	iūmentō	iūmentīs
vocative	iūmentum	iūmenta

Derived terms

iūmentārius

Descendants

Italo-Romance:
- Italian: giumento
  - → Romansh: giumaint
  - → Sicilian: giumentu
- Neapolitan: jummiento, jummenta
- Sicilian: jumentu, jumenta
Gallo-Romance:
- Old French: jument, jumente (sense 2)
  - French: jument
    - → Catalan: jument
    - → Franco-Provençal: jument
  - Norman: jeunment
  - → Middle English: jument
    - English: jument
Borrowings:
- → Asturian: xumentu
- → Catalan: jument, jumenta
- → Portuguese: jumento, jumenta
- → Spanish: jumento

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “iungō, -ere”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 314
^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), “*i̯eu̯g-”, in Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon]‎^[1] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 398
^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “equa”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 233

“iumentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"iumentum", 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)
"Pecus; Jumentum; Armentum; Grex" in H.H. Arnold's translation of Ludwig von Döderlein's Hand-Book of Latin Synonymes (1841), pp. 158–9.

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “iungō, -ere”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 314

[2] Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), “*i̯eu̯g-”, in Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon]‎^[1] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 398

[3] Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “equa”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 233

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