Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of an ancient people of Campania.
- noun The Italic language of the Oscans.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of au Italic race occupying a great part of southern Italy in ancient times.
- noun A language, akin to the Latin and Umbrian, spoken in Samnium, Campania, etc. It had not entirely disappeared as a spoken tongue in the time of the earlier emperors.
- Of or pertaining to the Oscans or their language: as, the Oscan cities; the Oscan language; an Oscan inscription.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the Osci, a primitive people of Campania, a province of ancient Italy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or pertaining to the Oscan language or Oscan people, or their writing system.
- noun A member of an ancient group of
Italic -speaking peoples ofCampania (theOsci ). - proper noun The
language of the Oscan people.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an Oscan-speaking member of an ancient people of Campania
- noun an extinct Italic language of ancient southern Italy
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Testaments in Armenian appeared at Amsterdam in 1666, under the care of a person commonly termed Oscan or Uscan, and described as being an Armenian bishop.
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Indeed, so successful was Latin that it supplanted all its ancient linguistic cousins—other Italic languages once spoken on the so-called Italic Peninsula: Faliscan, Oscan, Umbrian, and South Picene.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
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Indeed, so successful was Latin that it supplanted all its ancient linguistic cousins—other Italic languages once spoken on the so-called Italic Peninsula: Faliscan, Oscan, Umbrian, and South Picene.
The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010
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To clarify on the topic of flimflam Etruscan etymologies that irk me, see for example Augias/Jenkens, The Secrets of Rome: Love & death in the eternal city (2007), p.3 (see link): "Other hypotheses include the Etruscan word rumon, or river, and thus the 'city of the river,' or the Oscan ruma, or hill."
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After Sulla planted a colony of his veterans there in 80 B.C., Latin quickly dominated the citys public life, but the Oscan language lingered.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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Much debate revolves around the frescos use of the Oscan language.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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A cartoon-like fresco, it labels one of its characters as Spartacus: literally, SPARTAKS, which is the Oscan version of the Latin name Spartacus.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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In the conventional view, Oscan disappeared in Pompeii after 80 B.C., so the fresco cant refer to Spartacuss revolt.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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In fact, after 80 B.C. native Pompeians might even have wanted to flaunt the Oscan language as a sign of lcoal pride.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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But Oscan inscriptions from the first century A.D. are found elsewhere in southern Italy, so the fresco might indeed refer to Spartacuss revolt.
The Spartacus War Barry Strauss 2009
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