# flumen / amnis



## Yendred

Hi,

What's the exact difference between Latin *flumen *and _*amnis*? _More precisely, does this difference match the one between the French *fleuve *(a river which flows into the sea) and *rivière *(a river which flows into another river)?

Thanks in advance.


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## Scholiast

Greetings all, _et felicem novum annum_

There is no 'strict' or 'exact' difference—especially in poetry—between _flumen_ and _amnis_. But tendentially _flumen_ just means 'stream' (of any size), whereas _amnis_ implies a bigger waterway, even the sea.

Σ


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## Snodv

It appears that Vergil has used _amnis _for torrent, ocean, and even just water.


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## aefrizzo

Snodv said:


> It appears that Vergil has used _amnis _for torrent, ocean, and even just water.


Am I wrong  supposing it is also the root of "amnion" , the fluid filled sac in which the human fetus develops?


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## bearded

Apparently the etymology of 'amnion' is different: from Greek _amnìon _- a cup containing the blood of victims in ancient sacrifices.
Etimologia : amnio


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## Margrave

Hi. @Yendred in the Celtic lands there is the ancient pre-roman, pre-celtic word _am (an)_, um, which means _"water_". It is attested in Gaulish as "lake" or "swamp", but I could not find again which is the right meaning and/or the reference now. Therefore the name of the rivers Homme (France), Umia (Spain), Homem (Galicia), the river Ana (separating the Roman province of Baetica from Lusitania) today denominated Guadiana (arabic wadi+ iberian ana), the river Liffe (Dublin) in Irish is _an Liffe_, and other.  I published a book in 2019 which contains this information with sources. This _am, an_ radical seems to be ancient, perhaps Protoindo-european, as @aefrizzo mentions _amnis_ (torrent, ocean, water) and @bearded mentions the Greek word _amnion_, which is a recipient that contains blood (which is a liquid). Sorry for not supplying you with sources.


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## Yendred

Thank you so much guys for all this interesting information. I should have made a parallel between _amnis_ and _amnion_.


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