arabilis

Forms

arābilis (neuter arābile); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin arō + -bilis, from the verb meaning “to plough”.^[2][3][1] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *araje/o- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃-ie/o- (“to plough”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 AD) has it in the phrase campus nullis, cum siccum est, arabilis tauris, “a field that no bulls can plough when it is dry”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Classical Latin has it only in Pliny; a Novel of Justinian speaks of arabilia loca, places fit for ploughing.^[7] In medieval charters terra arabilis was the regular term for arable land.^[8][9] British sources also use it as a noun for ploughland, and for a plough ox and a day of ploughing service.^[9]

English arable came from it through Old French in the early 15th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder speaks of a field that bulls cannot plough when dry.^[5][6]
• 1085–1086 – The Domesday Book uses terra arabilis for arable land.^[9][11]
• early 15th century – English borrows it, through Old French, as arable.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That can be ploughed, arable.^[2][3][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) terra arabilis: arable land; also as a noun, ploughland.^[8][9]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of ploughing: bos arabilis, a plough ox;^[9] dies arabilis, a ploughing day.^[9]

Related words

• English arable

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin