Sexagesimus Quartus: July 16, 2008: Passer
Theme for this week: Animals
passer, passeris m.
Definition: sparrow (sometimes used as a term of endearment); seafish, turbot, plaice (basically, just a sort of flatfish); passer marinus: ostrich
Sententia: Ut non fenestram aperuissem, sic solvens in terram passerem nunc esurum a fele.
Would that I had not opened the window, thus releasing into the world the sparrow now about to be eaten by a cat.
Passer per undas prope solum maris labitur dum cibum petit.
The turbot/flatfish glides through the waves near the bottom of the sea while it seeks food.
Catullus poems 2 and 3 contain this word. With this word, you are killing 3 birds with one [metaphorical] stone (well, literally only 2, since flatfish cannot be considered birds), since there are three different animals which are associated with the one word "passer." Again, I can't find that there was anything particularly significant about sparrows or and of the other possible animals in Roman culture, except for the fact that all three associated animals were eaten by the Romans.***CORRECTION*** Either sparrows or doves were used to pull Venus' chariot. And ostriches were "passer marinus" for the Romans always had to bring them in via a sea voyage. An associated word is "passerculus," little sparrow (a diminutive).
NB: Bold and underline == macron