vervex

== Latin == === Alternative forms === berbēx (Vulgar Latin, Late Latin) verbēx === Etymology === Uncertain. Traditionally connected to Proto-Indo-European *wr̥h₁ḗn (“lamb”, acc. *wr̥h₁énm̥, gen. *wr̥h₁nós), but with unusual suffixation *-w-ēk- (for -ēx, compare -ex with a short vowel found in some other names of plants and animals), which along with other problems makes this derivation difficult to motivate. Possibly borrowed from another Indo-European language, which could also explain the alternation ⟨v ~ b⟩. Cognates would include Sanskrit उरण (úraṇa), Old Armenian գառն (gaṙn) and Ancient Greek ἀρήν (arḗn, “lamb”). For an alternative, De Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *wérwos (“wool”, s-stem), whence Ancient Greek εἶρος (eîros, “wool; cottonweed; a type of fever”), which may be related to the above, or may be from a root *wer(H)- (“to spin”). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈwɛr.weːks] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈvɛr.veks] === Noun === vervēx m (genitive vervēcis); third declension wether (castrated ram) Hypernym: ovis Hyponym: petrō (derogatory) blockhead, dolt Synonyms: see Thesaurus:homo stultus ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun. ==== Derived terms ==== vervēceus vervēcīnus vervēlla ==== Descendants ==== === References === === Further reading === “vervex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “vervex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “vervex”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.