Etymologically
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Damascus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [daːˈmas.kʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [daˈmas.kus][1]

Forms

Dāmascus f (genitive Dāmascī); second declension[1] The Greek nominative Damascos is also used.[2][3] As the name of the cloth it is damascus m.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek Δαμασκός (Damaskós), from a Semitic source.[1][2] Lewis & Short compare the Hebrew name of the city.[2] Köbler calls the further origin unclear: he mentions an Aramaic name explained as “well-watered place”, and an Egyptian rendering of the name.[6] Etymonline traces the Semitic name to a pre-Semitic name of unknown origin.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Curtius uses it for the city in his history of Alexander.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Damascus was the ancient capital of Coele-Syria, known for its terebinths and plums; since Diocletian's time it was also known for its works in steel.[2][3] Statius and Lucan have the Greek nominative Damascos,[2][3] and Tertullian notes that it had once been reckoned to Arabia.[8] In the Vulgate it is also an adjective, “of Damascus”.[2][9]

In Medieval Latin, as a noun or with pannus, it named damask, the patterned cloth of the city:[4][5][10] English inventories record it from 1388,[4] and Hungarian accounts list ells of it bought for clothing.[5] The cloth is Italian damasco.[6]

Timeline

  • 1st century – Curtius names the city.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 – Pliny the Elder mentions it.[2][6]
  • c. 45–96 – Statius uses the Greek form Damascos.[3][6]
  • 390–406 – The Vulgate also uses it as an adjective.[2][6]
  • mid-13th century – English takes the name of the city.[7]
  • late 14th century – English uses damask for the cloth.[7]
  • 1388 – A Westminster inventory has cloth de panno Damasci.[4]
  • 1501 – A Szeged inventory lists a saffron chasuble of damask.[5]

Meanings

Proper noun

  1. Damascus, a city of Syria.[11][2]

Adjective

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Of Damascus.[2][9]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) Damask, a costly patterned cloth.[4][5][10]

Word family

  • Dāmascēnus

Usage notes

Jerome interprets the name, as if Hebrew, as “drinking of blood” or “kiss of blood”.[8] A separate Medieval Latin damascus “domestic”, from Anglo-French, is recorded once, in 1251, of beasts kept out of a park.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  10. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press