The corpus record — Latin

belua

beast

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

Where it lives

Ephemeris id est totius diei negotium 1 · 7.71/10k
Apocolocyntosis 2 · 7.38/10k
Maximini Duo 4 · 7.37/10k
Cento Nuptialis 1 · 7.33/10k
Panegyricus dictus Probino et Olybrio consulibus 1 · 5.88/10k
Epithalamium de nuptiis Honorii Augusti 1 · 4.57/10k
De Republica 8 · 3.67/10k
Historiae Alexandri Magni 26 · 3.51/10k
Epodon 1 · 3.33/10k
Mostellaria 3 · 3.12/10k
Pro T. Annio Milone 3 · 2.85/10k
Peristephanon Liber 5 · 2.85/10k

Densest 12 of 99 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. belua — de Vaan

belua 'beast' [f. a] (Naev.+; van bellua in some mss.) Derivatives: beluatus 'provided with beasts' (PL+), beliitus [adj.] 'like a beast' (Paul. exF.). The derivatives would be regular to a w-stem, but they must be more recent, since -lua must go back to earlier *-lVwa. The similarity in meaning with bestia has prompted an etymology as *beslVwa; since words for 'animal* can be derived from *to breathe' (cf. Gm. … — [de Vaan, s.v. belua, p. 84]

2. bēlŭa — Lewis & Short

bēlŭa (not bellŭa), ae, f. (belua, dissyl., Varr. ap. qh/r, fera, as uber with ou)=qar, and paulus with pau=ros],

Non. p. 201, 26) [perh. kindr. with

I a beast distinguished for size or ferocity, a monster (as an elephant, lion, wild boar, whale, etc.; cf.: bestia, fera): elephanto beluarum nulla prudentior, Cic. N. D. 1, 35, 97; id. Fam. 7, 1, 3; Curt. 8, 9, 29: ea genera beluarum, quae in Rubro Mari Indiāve gignantur, Cic. N. D. 1, 35, 97: singulas stellas numeras deos, eosque beluarum nomine appellas, id. ib. 3, 16, 40; cf. * Lucr. 4, 143: fera et immanis, Cic. Ac. 2, 34, 108: vasta et immanis, id. Div. 1, 24, 49: saeva, Hor. C. 1, 12, 22: ingens, id. S. 2, 3, 316: centiceps, id. C. 2, 13, 34 al.—

B Esp. freq., kat' e)coxh)n, the elephant, Ter. Eun. 3, 1, 25 Ruhnk.: jam beluarum terror exoleverat, Flor. 1, 18, 9; cf. Graev. ib. 2, 6, 49; Sil. 11, 543: quis (gladiis) appetebant beluarum manus, Curt. 8, 14, 33 al. —Hence with the epithets, Inda, Ov. Tr. 4, 6, 7: Gaetula, Juv. 10, 158.—

II Sometimes, in gen., a beast, animal (even of small and tame animals): quo quidem agno sat scio magis curiosam nusquam esse ullam beluam, Plaut. Aul. 3, 6, 26.— The lower animals, as distinguished from man: quantum natura hominis pecudibus reliquisque beluis antecedat, Cic. Off. 1, 30, 105; 2, 5, 16 and 17; id. N. D. 2, 39, 99; 2, 47, 122.—

III Trop.

A As a term of reproach, beast, brute (class.), Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 112; id. Most. 3, 1, 78; id. Rud. 2, 6, 59: age nunc, belua, Credis huic quod dicat? Ter. Eun. 4, 4, 37; id. Phorm. 4, 2, 11: sed quid ego hospitii jura in hac immani beluā commemoro? Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 42, § 109: beluae quaedam illae immanes ac ferae, forma hominum indutae, exstiterunt, id. Sull. 27, 76; id. Pis. 1, 1; id. Phil. 8, 4, 13; id. Leg. 3, 9, 22; id. Off. 3, 6, 32; Liv. 7, 10, 3. —

B Of abstract objects: quod, ut feram et inmanem beluam, sic ex animis nostris adsensionem extraxisset, Cic. Ac. 2, 34, 108: amicos increpans, ut ignaros, quanta belua esset imperium, Suet. Tib. 24: avaritia, belua fera, Sall. Rep. Ordin. 2, 54 (p. 274 Gerl.).

In the wild

6 of 277 attestations shown.

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. belua (scan p. 84; entry #145). Root candidates: *diusa-, *bejo-.

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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.