pulvinus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pulvinus

Noun

pulvinus (plural pulvinae or pulvini)

1. (botany) A joint on a plant leaf or petiole that may swell and cause movement of the leaf or leaflet.

References

• Adrian D. Bell, Plant Form (new ed.), Timber Press, 2008. →ISBN

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Latin

Etymology

Derived from pulvis (“dust, powder”) +‎ -īnus (“-ine”), for the filler of a pillow.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /pulˈu̯iː.nus/, [pʊɫ̪ˈu̯iːnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /pulˈvi.nus/, [pulˈviːnus]

Noun

pulvīnus m (genitive pulvīnī); second declension

1. cushion, pillow, bolster
2. An elevated piece of arable land; a raised bed

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pulvīnus	pulvīnī
Genitive	pulvīnī	pulvīnōrum
Dative	pulvīnō	pulvīnīs
Accusative	pulvīnum	pulvīnōs
Ablative	pulvīnō	pulvīnīs
Vocative	pulvīne	pulvīnī

Descendants

• Old Leonese:
  • Asturian: povin
• → English: pulvinus
• → Proto-Germanic: *pulwı̨̄
  • Old English: pylwe, pylu, pyle
    • Middle English: pilwe, pilue, pilew, pelew, pilow, pylwe, pylow, pule, pyle, pile, pelewe, pilewe, pelowe, pilowe
      • English: pillow
        • → Maori: pera
      • Scots: pillae
      • ⇒ Middle English: [Term?], *pilwebere, pillowcase
        • English: pillowber
          • → Irish: piliúr, peiliúr
        • Scots: pillaebeir
  • Old Frisian: pēl
    • Saterland Frisian: Peel
    • West Frisian: pel
  • Old Dutch:
    • Middle Dutch: poluwe
      • Dutch: peluw
  • Old High German: pfulawi
    • Middle High German: pfül, pfülwe
      • Alemannic German: Pfulme
      • German: Pfühl
      • Luxembourgish: Pillem

References

• “pulvinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pulvinus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• pulvinus 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)
• “pulvinus”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎^[1]
• “pulvinus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin