mergulus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmer.ɡu.lus/, [ˈmɛrɡʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmer.ɡu.lus/, [ˈmɛrɡulus]

Etymology 1

lucerna cum mergulō (lamp with wick)

Diminutive from mergō (“immerse, dip”) +‎ -ulus.

Noun

mergulus m (genitive mergulī); second declension

1. wick of a lamp

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mergulus	mergulī
Genitive	mergulī	mergulōrum
Dative	mergulō	mergulīs
Accusative	mergulum	mergulōs
Ablative	mergulō	mergulīs
Vocative	mergule	mergulī

Synonyms

• (wick): fīlum

Related terms

• mergō

Etymology 2

mergus cum mergulō (diver with chick)

Diminutive from mergus (“diver, loon”) +‎ -ulus, from mergō (“dive, plunge”).

Noun

mergulus m (genitive mergulī); second declension

1. diminutive of mergus
2. (Late Latin, proscribed) Synonym of mergus
   • 3rd–4th century, Appendix Probi, line 194:

     mergus non mergulus

     [The correct form is] mergus, not mergulus

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mergulus	mergulī
Genitive	mergulī	mergulōrum
Dative	mergulō	mergulīs
Accusative	mergulum	mergulōs
Ablative	mergulō	mergulīs
Vocative	mergule	mergulī

Derived terms

• Vulgar Latin: *merguliāre
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: mergullar
    • Galician: mergullar
      • ⇒ mergullo
      • ⇒ mergullón
      • ⇒ somorgullar
        • ⇒ somorgullo
    • Portuguese: mergulhar
      • ⇒ mergulho

Related terms

• mergō
• mergus

References

• “mergulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mergulus 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)
• mergulus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.