# carmen
## English
### Noun

carmen
* plural of carman

### Anagrams

* mancer, McNear, Camren, -mancer

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈkar.men/, [ˈkärmɛn]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈkar.men/, [ˈkärmen]

### Etymology 1

According to Varro its earlier form was casmen. From Proto-Indo-European *ḱens- (“to speak in a florid, solemn style, attest, witness”). Cognate to Sanskrit शस्मन् (śásman, “hymn, laud, invocation, eulogy, recited verse”). Further cognate to Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hazjan, “to praise”), Old English herian (“to praise, extol, commend”). See Camēna, Casmēna. Compare Latin Casmenae. (Can this etymology be sourced?)
Sometimes referred to Proto-Italic *kanmen, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂nmn̥, from *keh₂n- (“to sing”) (whence canō (“I sing, chant”)), as with germen for *genmen.

#### Noun

carmen n (genitive carminis); third declension
* (usually poetic) song, tune
* a composition in verse, a poem; poetry, verse, song
** 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.833–834:mīlle dea est operum: certē dea carminis illa est; sī mereor, studiīs adsit amīca meīsShe is the goddess of a thousand crafts: Certainly she is the goddess of song; if I am deserving, may she be present, as a friend to my endeavors. (Ovid concludes 26 lines honoring the festival of Minerva with his own prayer to the goddess; see also Athena.)
* poem, poetry (strictly any poem or poetry that can be sung), verse (esp. lyric or epic verse)
* incantation, charm, spell
** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.487–488:“Haec sē carminibus prōmittit solvere mentēs quās velit, ast aliīs dūrās immittere cūrās, [...].”“[This enchantress] vows by her spells to loosen the hearts of those she wills, but to inflict harsh cares upon others, [...].”
* play, playing (of music)
    Synonym: cantiō
    Carmina Burana ― Songs of Beuern
* prayer (refers to prayers being composed in verse)
* formula (refers to the formula of verse found in ancient prayers or magical spells)
* (prosaic) oracle (infrequent but used to refer to the poetic form in which prophecies were spoken)
* ritual (involving verse)

##### Usage notes

The difference between carmen and cantus when signifying "song" is that carmen is used more frequently in poetry, whereas cantus is used more frequently in prose.

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

##### Derived terms

* Carmentis/Carmenta
* carminō

##### Descendants

* English: charm (through Old French)
* French: charme
** Basque: xarma
* Italian: carme
* Portuguese: carme
* Sicilian: carminu
* Spanish: carmen

### Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-mn̥, from *(s)kers- (“to scratch”) + *-mn̥. Cognate with Lithuanian kar̃šti (“to comb (wool or linen)”), Latvian kā̀rst (“to comb (wool or linen)”), Sanskrit कषति (káṣati, “to scrape, scratch”), Old High German skerran (“to scratch”). Equivalent to car(r)ō (“to card (wool)”) +‎ -men.

#### Noun

carmen n (genitive carminis); third declension
* card for flax or wool

##### Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

##### Derived terms

* carminō

### References

* “carmen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “carmen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* carmen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* carmen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. epic poetry: carmen epicum to recite a poem, line with appropriate action: carmen, versum agere to read a piece of verse with expression: carmen recitare to recite a piece of verse (without gestures): carmen pronuntiare a rough poem; an extempore effusion: carmen inconditum a choric ode in a tragedy: carmen chori, canticum to read prayers for the congregation to repeat: praeire verba (carmen) (Liv. 31. 17) (ambiguous) to write poetry with facility: carmina , versus fundere (De Or. 3. 50)
* “carmen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* carmen in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

### Anagrams

* carnem

## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic كَرْم (karm, “vineyard”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkaɾmen/ [ˈkaɾ.mẽn]
* Rhymes: -aɾmen
* Syllabification: car‧men
* Homophone: Carmen

### Noun

carmen m (plural cármenes)
* a type of house in Granada

### Further reading

* “carmen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10