flamen

Etymology 1

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlag- (“to hit, strike, beat”).^[1] Other etymologies point to *bʰleh₂- (no meaning given) or *bʰel- (“to shine, burn”).^[2] Traditionally asserted relationships to Sanskrit ब्रह्मन् (bráhman), Old Norse blót via conjectured *bʰlag-, *bʰlād- present difficulties.

Etymology 2

From flō (“I breathe, blow”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix).

Further reading

• “flamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “flamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• flamen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “flamen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “flamen”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

References