Pilumnus

Latin

Etymology

From pīlus (“pestle”), from Proto-Indo-European *peys- (“to crush”) + *mno-.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /piːˈlum.nus/, [piːˈɫ̪ʊmnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /piˈlum.nus/, [piˈlumnus]

Proper noun

Pīlumnus m (genitive Pīlumnī); second declension

1. a minor Roman god guarding the good health and growth of children

Usage notes

• One of two brother deities. Pīlumnus was a personification of the pestle (pīlus) and Pīcumnus was a personification of the woodpecker (pīcus); both were companions of Mars, and tutelary deities of married couples and newborns.
• Pīlumnus taught humanity how to grind grain.
• He was the consort of Danaë, father of Danaus and ancestor of Turnus.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	Pīlumnus	Pīlumnī
genitive	Pīlumnī	Pīlumnōrum
dative	Pīlumnō	Pīlumnīs
accusative	Pīlumnum	Pīlumnōs
ablative	Pīlumnō	Pīlumnīs
vocative	Pīlumne	Pīlumnī

References

• “Pilumnus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Pilumnus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Pilumnus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.