Etymologically
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asphaltum

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Forms

asphaltum n (genitive asphaltī); second declension[1][2] The older and commoner form is asphaltus, masculine or feminine, from Pelagonius (360 AD) on.[2][3][1] Medieval spellings include aspaltum, asfaltum and aspalitum.[2][1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, “asphalt, bitumen”),[4][2][5] a neuter beside the more usual asphaltus.[2][1] The DMLBS asks whether it was confused with ἀσπάλαθος (aspálathos), a thorny shrub,[4] and the MLW notes that the two cannot always be told apart.[1]

The Greek word is often explained as ἀ- (a-, “not”) with a verbal adjective of σφάλλω (sphállō, “to throw down”), as a material that keeps walls from falling;[5] Etymonline reports that Beekes finds this weak, and that a Semitic or other foreign source has also been proposed.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds the neuter in glosses, where it translates Old English spaldor and Old High German harz;[2] the masculine asphaltus is first used by the veterinary writer Pelagonius (360 AD).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Latin writers called the substance by the native word bitūmen, which the glosses give as the translation;[3][6] Bede notes that asphaltos is Greek and bitumen Latin.[6] In Medieval Latin asphaltum was a term of medicine and alchemy for natural bitumen,[1][4] described as a glue that neither iron nor water can loosen and as a kind of black gum.[4] English asphalt goes back to it (early 14th century).[5]

Timeline

  • 360 AD – Pelagonius uses the masculine asphaltus.[2][3]
  • early 14th century – English asphalt, from Late Latin asphaltum.[5]
  • 1847 – English asphalt is first used of a paving mixture.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) Asphalt, natural bitumen, mineral pitch.[2][1][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften