Etymologically
Log in

asella

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word asella

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
43 BC–18 AD, Ovid
Ultimate origin
Latin asinus

Forms

asella f (genitive asellae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin asina (“she-ass”) + -ella, a diminutive.[2][3][4] asina is the feminine of asinus (“ass, donkey”), which de Vaan takes to be a fairly recent loanword, since its /s/ between vowels did not become /r/.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ovid has it first,[6][4] in the Ars amatoria and the Medicamina, for a she-ass.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

It stayed a rare word for the female donkey;[7] Juvenal uses it too.[7] The masculine asellus was the more common diminutive.[8]

Timeline

  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it for a she-ass.[4][7][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it in his sixth satire.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A she-ass, a little female donkey.[2][4]

Usage notes

Du Cange records a medieval asella “armpit” (for axilla) in the synodal statutes of the church of Liège, which forbid clergy to make openings under the armpits of their linen tunics or surplices.[9]

References

  1. ^ 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. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
Cite this entry

“Asella.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/asella. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·