pilula

See also: pílula

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pil-?

Latin pilus?

Latin pila

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ula

Latin pilula

Diminutive from pila (“ball, globe”) +‎ -ula, said to be ultimately related to pilus (“hair”), since the balls used in Ancient Roman games were filled with hair.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpɪ.ɫʊ.ɫa]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpiː.lu.la]

Noun

pilula f (genitive pilulae); first declension

1. A small ball, globule; pellet.
2. (medicine) A pill.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	pilula	pilulae
genitive	pilulae	pilulārum
dative	pilulae	pilulīs
accusative	pilulam	pilulās
ablative	pilulā	pilulīs
vocative	pilula	pilulae

Synonyms

• (small ball, globule): globulus

Related terms

• pilāris
• pilārius
• pilīcrepus

Descendants

• Asturian: pella, pelluecu
• Catalan: píndola
  • Sicilian: pìnnula
• French: pilule
  • → Romanian: pilulă
  • → Russian: пилюля (piljulja)
• Italian: pillola
• → Middle Low German: pille
  • → Danish: pille
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: pille
• Old Galician-Portuguese:
  • Galician: pela; → pílula
  • → Portuguese: pílula
• Spanish: píldora

References

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