Etymologically
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axilla

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aːkˈsɪl.la][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [akˈsil.la][1]

Forms

āxilla f (genitive āxillae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of āla “wing; armpit”, made from that word's earlier form ⟨*axla⟩, like māxilla beside māla.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD quotes Cicero, who notes that āla came from axilla by dropping a harsh letter.[2][4] Köbler's first source is Varro, whom he dates 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the armpit.[6][3] The forms ascilla and ascella appear later, and Isidore uses it.[3][6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant the side, the armpit.[7] British Medieval Latin glosses spell it ascella and use it also for the part under a wing.[8] It survives in Italian ascella, French aisselle and Spanish axila, and was borrowed into English as axilla.[1]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero says āla came from it.[2][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore uses it of the armpit.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The armpit.[6][3]
  2. (Medieval Latin) The part under a wing.[8]
  • āla
  • māxilla
  • English axilla
  • English axil

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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