pulvinus

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin pulvīnus. Doublet of pillow.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -aɪnəs

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.

Further reading

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

Latin

Etymology

From pulvis (“dust, powder”) +‎ -nus, 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. bank, 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

• Italian: pulvino
• Old Leonese:
  • Asturian: povin
• → English: pulvinus (learned)
• → Proto-West Germanic: *pulwī (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “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
• “pulvinus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin