alapa

Forms

alapa f (genitive alapae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3][1] Köbler, following Walde and Hofmann, calls it a loanword from an unknown source, perhaps Etruscan.^[4] Wiktionary suggests a Semitic source, Aramaic אַלַּף (allap̄, “to teach”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Phaedrus, in whose fable a bald man, trying to crush a fly on his head, deals himself a heavy slap.^[3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

It was a blow with the open hand, especially on the cheek.^[2][6] A master gave a slave such a slap when freeing him, so that in Phaedrus a freedman boasts multō maiōris alapae mēcum vēneunt “with me slaps are sold much dearer”, that is, freedom costs more.^[7][5] Döderlein sets it, a slap as a mild punishment, against colaphus, a blow with the fist given in anger.^[8] The Vulgate uses it of the blows given to Jesus.^[6][7]

In Medieval Latin it was the blow that dubbed a knight, the accolade,^[9][10] and the light blow of the bishop at confirmation;^[10] by a figure it could also mean the boards of a book's cover.^[10] In British sources it was also the buffeting of wind and waves.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 15 BC–c. 50 AD – Phaedrus uses it of a slap and of the slap of manumission.^[3][4]
• before 66 AD – Petronius alludes to the slap of manumission.^[7][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it.^[5][4]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of the slaps given to Jesus.^[6][4]
• 1191 – A letter tells of a crowd abusing a man with words, slaps and spitting.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A slap with the open hand, a box on the ear.^[2][6][12]
2. The slap given to a slave at manumission.^[7][13]
3. (Medieval Latin) The blow that dubs a knight, the accolade.^[9][10]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The light blow given at confirmation.^[10]
5. (Medieval Latin) The board of a book cover.^[10]

Usage notes

Petronius describes a freedman as one who is still sub alapā, still showing the marks of his slavery.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b 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
12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier