furca

1. furca — de Vaan

furca 'fork or similarly shaped instrument' [f a] (PL+) Derivatives: furcifer 'one who is punished with the 'fork', scoundrel' (PL+); furcilla 'wooden pitchfork' (Varro+), furcillare 'to impugn' (PlXfitrcillatus 'forked' (Varro). All etymologies adduced in WH presuppose PIE *gh-, which yields Latin h- in front of vowels except vafundo. In furca, just as mfundd, we find -u- after the velar stop. Yet Lith. zergti 'to … — [de Vaan, s.v. furca, p. 265]

2. furca — Lewis & Short

furca, ae, f.Sanscr. bhur-ig, shears; cf. Lat. forceps, forfex; also Gr. fa/ros, plough; Lat. forāre; Engl. bore, Georg Curtius Gr. Etym. p. 299; but Corss. refers furca to root dhar-,=fero, as a prop. support; v. Ausspr. 1, 149,

I a two-pronged fork.

I Lit.: exacuunt alii vallos furcasque bicornes, Verg. G. 1, 264: valentes, id. ib. 2, 359: furcis detrudi, Liv. 28, 3, 7; cf. Caes. B. C. 2, 11, 2. —Prov.: naturam expellas furcā, tamen usque recurret, with might and main, Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 24 (v. furcilla).—

II Transf., of things shaped like a fork.

A A forkshaped prop, pole, or stake, for carrying burdens on the back or shoulder, Plaut. Cas. 2, 8, 2; for supporting the seats of a theatre, Liv. 1, 35, 9; for a vine, Plin. 14, 2, 4, § 32; for fishing-nets, id. 9, 8, 9, § 31; for the gable of a house, Ov. M. 8, 700; a frame on which meat was suspended in the chimney, id. ib. 8, 648.—

B An instrument of punishment in the form of a fork (V or II), which was placed on the culprit's neck, while his hands were fastened to the two ends, a yoke (cf.: crux, gabalus, patibulum; hence, furcifer): To. Satis sumpsimus jam supplici. Do. Fateor, manus vobis do. To. Post dabis sub furcis, Plaut. Pers. 5, 2, 71: canem et furcam ferre, id. Cas. 2, 6, 37: servus per circum, cum virgis caederetur, furcam ferens ductus est, Cic. Div. 1, 26, 55: servus sub furca caesus, Liv. 2, 36, 1 Drak.; Val. Max. 1, 7, 4; Lact. 2, 7, 20: sub furca vinctus inter verbera et cruciatus, Liv. 1, 26, 10: cervicem inserere furcae, Suet. Ner. 49; Eutr. 7, 5; Prud. stef. 10, 851.—Hence poet. to designate the worst condition of slavery: ibis sub furcam prudens, Hor. S. 2, 7, 66.—

C A fork-shaped gallows: aliquem furcā figere, Dig. 48, 19, 28 fin.: furcae subicere, ib. 9: in furcam tollere, ib. 38: in furcam suspendere, ib. 13, 6: in furcam damnare, ib. 49, 16, 3: canes vivi in furca, sambucea arbore fixi, Plin. 29. 4, 14, § 57.—

D A fork-shaped yoke in which young bullocks were put to be tamed, Varr. R. R. 1, 20, 2.—

E Furcae cancrorum, the claws of a crab, App. Mag. p. 297. —

F Furcae Caudinae, the narrow pass of Caudium, the Caudine Forks, usually called Furculae Caudinae (v. furcula, II. and Caudium), Val. Max. 5, 1, 5 ext.; 7, 2, 17 ext.

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