Etymologically
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aucella

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Forms

aucella f (genitive aucellae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin avicella (“little bird”), contracted;[2][1] that is a diminutive of avis (“bird”).[2] The TLL instead derives it from auca (“bird, goose”), as a diminutive,[3] while de Vaan thinks ⟨auca⟩ is probably a back-formation from ⟨aucella⟩ or an unattested ⟨*aucula⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro mentions it in a passage on diminutives; the TLL's text lists it after ⟨avis⟩ and ⟨avicula⟩, while Lewis & Short read Varro as saying that this form was not used, only ⟨avicella⟩.[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short call it post-Classical.[2] In the cookery book of Apicius small birds (aucellae) are cooked with chicken gizzards and with thrushes.[3][2] An ancient glossary equates it with ortygometra.[3] Aucella also appears as a woman's name on Gallic pottery.[3] The masculine aucellus was made from it.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro names it among diminutives.[3][5]
  • 4th century AD – Apicius cooks small birds.[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (post-Classical) A little bird.[2][3][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de