pulex

See also: Pulex

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *plúsis (“flea”), with metathesis plus → pusl → pūl, with a suffix -ex, -icis also found in cīmex (“bug”) and culex (“gnat”). Cognates include Ancient Greek ψύλλα (psúlla), Sanskrit प्लुषि (plúṣi), Old Armenian լու (lu) and Old English flēah, flēa (English flea).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈpuː.leks/, [ˈpuːɫ̪ɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpu.leks/, [ˈpuːleks]

Noun

pūlex m (genitive pūlicis); third declension

1. flea

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	pūlex	pūlicēs
Genitive	pūlicis	pūlicum
Dative	pūlicī	pūlicibus
Accusative	pūlicem	pūlicēs
Ablative	pūlice	pūlicibus
Vocative	pūlex	pūlicēs

Derived terms

• *pūlica
• *pūlicō

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: puric
  • Romanian: purice
• Dalmatian:
  • pulco
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: pulce

    Central Italian: pulce, purge, purce ⇒ purgia

    Tuscan: puce, pulce, puice

  • ⇒ Neapolitan: pócia, polàcia
  • Sicilian: pùlici, puci, purci
• North Italian:
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Ligurian: prûxa, purxa
    • Lombard: pùles, pùres
      • → Franco-Provençal: pulas (Valdôtain)
      • → Piedmontese: pùles, pùres
    • Piedmontese: purs, puls, prus
    • ⇒ Romagnol: pólxa
  • Friulian: pulç, pulč
  • Romansch: pilesch, pelisch, pelesch, pülesch, pülsch
  • Venetian: pulç, pulxo, polxe, pulexe
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: puge

    Dauphinois: pusi

    Forézien: piusi, pusi ⇒ piòsa

    Lyonnais: pusi

    Valdôtain: pôise, puougi, piugi ⇒ puja, puija

  • Old French: puce, puche
    • French: puce
      • → English: puce
        • → Welsh: piws
    • Norman: puche
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: pulç ⇒ pulça
    • Catalan: puça, pulça
  • Gascon: puç, piutz, puse
  • Occitan:

    Languedocien: piuse

    Limousin: piòse

• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: pulz, pulce

    Ribagorçan: ⇒ pulça

• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: puighi, puliche, pulige, pulighe, pulixi
• Borrowings:
  • ⇒ Esperanto: pulo
  • ⇒ Translingual: Pulex

References

• “pulex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• pulex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “pulex”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray