vervex

Latin

Alternative forms

• berbēx
• 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): /ˈu̯er.u̯eːks/, [ˈu̯ɛru̯eːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈver.veks/, [ˈvɛrveks]

Noun

vervēx m (genitive vervēcis); third declension

1. wether (castrated ram)
2. (derogatory) blockhead, dolt

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:homo stultus

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vervēx	vervēcēs
genitive	vervēcis	vervēcum
dative	vervēcī	vervēcibus
accusative	vervēcem	vervēcēs
ablative	vervēce	vervēcibus
vocative	vervēx	vervēcēs

Derived terms

• vervēceus
• vervēcīnus
• vervēlla

Descendants

• Aromanian: birbec, birbecu, birbeatsi, birbeatse, bãrbets
• French: brebis
• Italian: berbice
• Megleno-Romanian: birbęți
• Norman: brébis (Jersey)
• Occitan: berbitz
• Romanian: berbec
• Romansch: barbeisch
• Sardinian: berbeche, verveche, brebei
• Walloon: berbis

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.