serpyllum

Latin

Alternative forms

• serpillum, serpullum

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἕρπυλλος (hérpullos). This spelling is educated. In Old Latin the spelling serpullum was dominating, the Greek origin not being well known, and this form stays in speech up to Romance.

Noun

serpyllum n (genitive serpyllī); second declension

1. wild thyme

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	serpyllum	serpylla
Genitive	serpyllī	serpyllōrum
Dative	serpyllō	serpyllīs
Accusative	serpyllum	serpylla
Ablative	serpyllō	serpyllīs
Vocative	serpyllum	serpylla

Descendants

serpullum

• Catalan: serpoll
• Occitan: serpol
• Spanish: serpol

*serpullellum

• Italian: sermollino
• Romanian: serpunel, serpunél

serpillum

• Italian: serpillo

See also

• thymum

References

• “serpyllum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Niedermann, Max (1950) “Der Suffixtypus -ullus, -a, -um lateinischer Appellativa”, in Museum Helveticum‎^[1], page 157