Etymologically
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balteus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈbaɫ.te.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbal.te.us][1]

Forms

balteus m (genitive balteī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain; the OLD calls it doubtful.[2][3] Charisius reports that Varro called it Etruscan, though Varro later looked for a Latin origin, and Wiktionary compares borrowed from Etruscan 𐌁𐌀𐌋𐌕𐌄𐌀 (baltea, “belt”).[4][1][5] A neuter ⟨balteum⟩ is also found, especially in early prose.[2][5] The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance ⟨*/ˈbalti-u/⟩.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Livius Andronicus, whom he dates 280/260–before 200 BC.[3] The OLD's earliest citation is from Caesar, of a baldric.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a shoulder band or baldric, often decorated, for a sword, quiver or instrument, as in Caesar and Virgil, and in Germanicus the belt of Orion, and in Manilius the zodiac.[2][7] In Juvenal it meant a blow with a belt, and in Ovid a woman's girdle.[2] In Apuleius it meant a decorative band on a horse, in Pliny the Elder a bond, in Cato a pastry crust turned up at the edges, in Vitruvius a band on an Ionic capital, and in Calpurnius a gangway in a theatre.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a belt.[8] British Medieval Latin used it for a belt for bending a crossbow and the belt of knighthood.[9] It survives in Romanian balț and Italian balzo, and it was borrowed early into Germanic as *baltjaz, whence Old English belt and English belt.[6][1][10]

Timeline

  • 280/260–before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[3]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a pastry crust.[2][3]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a baldric.[2][3]
  • Old English – belt is recorded.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A baldric; the belt of Orion; the zodiac.[2]
  2. A woman's girdle.[2]
  3. A horse's breast band.[2]
  4. A bond.[2]
  5. A pastry crust.[2]
  6. (architecture) A band on an Ionic capital; a gangway in a theatre.[2]

Word family

  • balteō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com