The corpus record — Latin

adminiculum

prop, support, pillar

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

De Exhortatione Castitatis Liber 1 · 2.56/10k
De Senectute 1 · 1.21/10k

What it meant

1. adminiculum — de Vaan

adminiculum 'prop, support, pillar' [n. o] (Cato+) Derivatives: adminicular 'to support' (VarroH-). Pit *mino- 'structure, support', PIE *(H)mi-no-, + EM and Leumann 1977: 313 prefer to derive adminiculum from the root *men- 'to protrude' as in minae 'protruding part' > 'threat' and e-minere. WH and Serbat 1975: 144 explain adminiculum as *(H)mi-no- to moenia 'defensive walls' from the root *(H)mi- Ho build'. In … — [de Vaan, s.v. adminiculum, p. 38]

2. admĭnĭcŭlum — Lewis & Short

admĭnĭcŭlum, i, n.ad-manus, prop.,

I that on which the hand may rest, then in gen., a prop, stay, support.

I Lit.

A Orig. in the language of vine-dressers, the stake or pole to which the vine clings, and by which it is supported: vites claviculis adminicula, tamquam manibus apprehendunt, atque ita se erigunt, ut animantes, Cic. N. D. 2, 47: adminiculorum ordines, capitum jugatio, id. Sen. 15; so Plin. 17, 24, 36, § 215; cf. Drak. Liv. 6, 1, 4.— Hence,

B In gen., of any prop, stay, or support, assistance: adminicula hominum, i. e. oxen, implements of agriculture, etc., Varr. R. R. 1, 17; Liv. 21, 36: motam (Junonem) sede sua parvi molimenti adminiculis, id. 5, 22: adminicula gubernandi addidit Tiphys, means of steering, the rudder, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 209; cf. id. 11, 37, 61, § 162. —

II Trop., support, aid, auxiliary, assistant (class.): ad legionem cum itant, adminiculum eis danunt aliquem cognatum, an assistant, Plaut. Most. 1, 2, 48: hanc igitur partem relictam explebimus, nullis adminiculis, sed, ut dicitur, Marte nostro, Cic. Off. 3, 7: natura solitarium nihil amat, semperque ad aliquod tamquam adminiculum adnititur, id. Lael. 23 fin.: quo primo adminiculo erecta erat (urbs), eodem innisa M. Furio principe stetit, Liv. 6, 1: id senectuti suae adminiculum fore, id. 10, 22: egere adminiculis, ut in commune consulat, Tac. A. 12, 5; so, in militia aut via fessus adminiculum oro, id. ib. 14, 54: nullius externi indigens adminiculi, Amm. 24, 8; 21, 12; 14, 6: Quibus debetis esse adminiculo, Vulg. Esth. 16, 20.

3. adminiculum — Walde–Hofmann

adminiculum, 4 n. (-clum Plaut.) „Stütze, Beihilfe* (seit Plaut.; -0, -üvi, -ütwm, -üre seit Varro und Cic): als ,Anpfühlung*, „Anstützung* (zum ad- vgl admitor) zur Wz. *mei- (s. moenia, meta, mürus) in ai. mínóti „befestigt, erbaut“, air. *menaid ,figit* (*minati) in twidmithe „infixus“ (*to-di-mi-, s. Marstrander Presents à nasale inf. 11ff, NTS. 1, 245, Osthoff Forsch. I 83f.; italokelt. *minàáti, daraus lat. … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. adminiculum, p. 45]

In the wild

adminiculorum Tertullian, De Exhortatione Castitatis Liber 12
adminiculorum Cicero, De Senectute 53.p2

Where it came from

de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. adminiculum (scan p. 38; entry #8). Root candidates: *mino-, *men-, *mei-.
Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. adminiculum (scan p. 33; entry #190).
Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. adminiculum (scan p. 45; entry #100). Root candidates: *mei-.

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.