Centesimus Primus: August 29, 2008: Pusillus
Theme for this week: Words learned through the etymology of A.Word.A.Day
pusillus, -a, -um
Definition: very young; petty, paltry
Sententia: Ob pusilla discordia in DCCCXVII A.U.C. -- Clodia adfirmavit Terentiam optimam pallam sordidam fecisse, et Terentia id negavit -- Clodia cumulum cinerum e igne ante liminem Terentiae fundit. Tamen, cineres non omnino extincti sunt, atque trabes liminis incenderunt et demum flammae circum fere totam urbem tetenderunt.
Because of a petty disagreement in 64 AD-- Clodia declared that Terentia had made her best palla dirty, and Terentia denied it --Clodia poured a heap of ashes from the fire before the threshold of Terentia. However, the ashes were not completely extinguished, and so they set fire to the timbers of the threshold and eventually the flames stretched around almost the whole city.
NB: It is not known exactly how the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD was started, whether by arson or by accident. This reason for the fire is just my imagination at work :) If you are interested in learning more about the actual event, here is a link from PBS about it.
The English word which derives from this word is pusillanimous, found online at http://wordsmith.org/words/pusillanimous.html. It is found not at all on the syllabi, but in Catullus 37 and 54 off the syllabus. The word for today is in fact a diminutive of pullus, meaning either "young of animals" or "chicken." The word pullus, however, does occur on the syllabus, in book 4 of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Pyramus and Thisbe). So, pusillanimous, pusillus + animus, is literally "little young (of animals) mind," for a word which actually means "timid" or "lacking courage!" The etymology puts a whole new level of insult behind the word!
NB: Bold and underline == macron