sabulum
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *sámh₂-dʰ- (compare Ancient Greek ἄμαθος (ámathos), ψάμμος (psámmos), English sand) with a diminutive suffix -ulum, from the root *sem(h₂)- (“to pour”) (compare dialectal English samel (“sand bottom”), Old Irish do·essim (“to pour out”), Latin sentina (“bilge water”), Lithuanian sémti (“to scoop”)). However, this etymology is fraught with problems.
More recent scholarship considers the Latin to be from a European substrate, with original form *(p)sam- or *sab⁽ʰ⁾-. Under this view, the terms listed with *sámh₂-dʰ- are cognate and derived from the same substrate continuum, but not the ones listed with *sem(h₂)-.[1]
sabulum n (genitive sabulī); second declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).