Etymologically
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areola

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aːˈre.ɔ.ɫa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈrɛː.o.la][1]

Forms

āreola f (genitive āreolae); first declension[1] The spelling ariola is frequent in inscriptions.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ārea (“open space”) + -ola, a diminutive.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 1st century AD, in Columella's work on farming, for a small bed in a garden.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Pliny the Younger uses it of a small open space in a house: a little courtyard shaded by four plane trees (areolam, quae quattuor platanis inumbratur).[2][3][5] The Vulgate has areolae aromatum, “beds of spices”, in the Song of Songs.[7][5]

In Medieval Latin it kept the sense “garden bed”, also figuratively,[8] and named small squares marked out on a surface: a pontifical describes squares of ash on the floor of a church being dedicated, with a letter of the alphabet written in each.[9] The Swiss anatomist Caspar Bauhin applied it in 1605 to the coloured ring around the nipple, the sense in which English took it over.[10] It survives in Italian aiuola, “flower bed”.[11]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a garden bed.[2][6]
  • 61/62–before 117 AD – Pliny the Younger uses it of a small courtyard.[2][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate has it for beds of spices.[7][6]
  • 802 – Alcuin uses it figuratively of the flowering beds of good will.[8]
  • 1605 – Caspar Bauhin uses it for the ring around the nipple.[10]
  • 1706 – Recorded in English in this sense.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small open space, a little courtyard.[2][5]
  2. A garden bed, seedbed.[2][7]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A small square marked out on a surface.[9]
  4. (New Latin, anatomy) The coloured ring around the nipple.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier