altellus

Latin

Etymology

See the quotation.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /alˈtel.lus/, [äɫ̪ˈt̪ɛlːʲʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /alˈtel.lus/, [äl̪ˈt̪ɛlːus]

Noun

altellus m (genitive altellī); second declension (hapax)

1. an epithet or perhaps cognomen of Romulus
   • 1839 [8th century CE], Paulus Diaconus, edited by Karl Otfried Müller, Excerpta ex libris Pompeii Festi De significatione verborum, page 7, line 10:

     Altellus Rōmulus dīcēbātur, quasi altus in tellūre, vel quod tellūrem suam aleret; sīve quod alerētur tēlīs; vel quod ā Tatiō Sabīnōrum rēge postulātus sit in colloquiō pācis, et alternīs vicibus audierit locūtusque fuerit. Sīcut enim fit dīminūtīve ā macrō macellus, a vafrō vafellus, ita ab alternō altellus.

     Altellus was Romulus called, as if 'high in the land', or because he nourished his land; or because he was nourished by weapons; or because he was summoned by Tatius for peace talks, and he listened and spoke by turns [alternīs vicibus]. For in the same way the diminutive macellus is derived from macer and vafellus from vafer, so altellus from alternus.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	altellus	altellī
Genitive	altellī	altellōrum
Dative	altellō	altellīs
Accusative	altellum	altellōs
Ablative	altellō	altellīs
Vocative	altelle	altellī

References

• “altellus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• altellus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.