amuletum

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain. Watkins suggests a derivation from amylum (“starch”) as an original meaning of a medicine containing starch. Also compare āmōlior (“I remove from, I repel”), and Ancient Greek ἀμύνω (amúnō, “to ward off”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [a.mʊˈɫeː.tũː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a.muˈlɛː.t̪um]

Noun

amulētum n (genitive amulētī); second declension

an amulet

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	amulētum	amulēta
genitive	amulētī	amulētōrum
dative	amulētō	amulētīs
accusative	amulētum	amulēta
ablative	amulētō	amulētīs
vocative	amulētum	amulēta

Descendants

Catalan: amulet
English: amulet
German: Amulett
Middle French: amulette
- → English: amulet
- French: amulette
  - → Dutch: amulet
    - Afrikaans: amulet
    - → Indonesian: amulet
Portuguese: amuleto
Russian: амуле́т (amulét)
Spanish: amuleto

References

“amuletum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
amuletum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
“amuletum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
amuletum in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
“amuletum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
Watkins, Calvert, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000.