helvus

Latin

FWOTD – 1 September 2013

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *heliwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-i-wó-s (“yellow, green”), from *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”) +‎ -i- +‎ *-wós. Cognate with Proto-Germanic *gelwaz (“yellow”), Lithuanian žel̃vas (“greenish”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈhel.u̯us/, [ˈhɛɫ̪u̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈel.vus/, [ˈɛlvus]

Adjective

helvus (feminine helva, neuter helvum); first/second-declension adjective

1. honey-yellow
   • 4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De Re Rustica 3.2:

     Sunt et Helvolae, quās nōn nūllī variās appellant, neque purpureae neque nigrae, ab helvō, nisi fallor, colōre vocitātae.

     There are also the Helvolans, which some call variae. They are neither purple nor black; from their honey-yellow colour they get their name, if I'm not wrong.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	helvus	helva	helvum		helvī	helvae	helva
genitive	helvī	helvae	helvī		helvōrum	helvārum	helvōrum
dative	helvō	helvae	helvō		helvīs
accusative	helvum	helvam	helvum		helvōs	helvās	helva
ablative	helvō	helvā	helvō		helvīs
vocative	helve	helva	helvum		helvī	helvae	helva

Synonyms

• (yellow): flavus

Derived terms

• helvolus
• helvius
• helvella
• Helvius

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, subalbus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)	glaucus, rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeus, grīseus (ML. or NL.)	niger, āter, piceus, furvus
ruber, rūbidus, rūfus, rubicundus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceus, murrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius	rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, suffuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)	flāvus, sufflāvus, flāvidus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
galbus, galbinus, lūridus	viridis	prasinus
cȳaneus	caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), caesius, blāvus (LL.)	glaucus; līvidus; venetus
violāceus, ianthinus, balaustīnus (NL.)	ostrīnus, amethystīnus	purpureus, ātropurpureus, roseus, rosāceus

References

• “helvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• helvus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 282