anellus

Forms

ānellus m (genitive ānellī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ānus¹ (“ring”) + -ellus.^[2][1] Lewis and Short call it a diminutive of ānulus (“ring”),^[3] which is formed from the same noun.^[4] The noun goes back to Proto-Italic *āno- (“ring”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁eh₂no- (“ring”).^[4] Cognate with Old Irish áinne (“ring”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first,^[4][5] in the Epidicus, of a little gold ring for the finger brought as a birthday present.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Lucretius uses it of the rings of a chain that a magnet holds hanging from itself, and Horace of a man noticed wearing three rings.^[6][3] The ancient grammarians note that its first vowel is long.^[6]

It lived on in Romance: Italian anello, Spanish anillo and French anneau.^[6] In medieval England it also named a ring for confining prisoners, and a glossary of Ælfric renders it lytel hring.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a little gold finger ring.^[6][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of the rings of a chain.^[6][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of finger rings.^[3][5]
• 1221 – English records use it of rings for prisoners.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little ring, especially a finger ring.^[2][3]
2. A link or ring of a chain.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A ring for confining prisoners.^[7]

Related words

• ānulus
• Italian anello
• French anneau

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b c 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