Etymologically
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bascauda

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [basˈkau̯.da][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [basˈkaːu̯.da][1]

Forms

bascauda f (genitive bascaudae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Proto-Brythonic: Martial has it come from Britain as something barbarian, and the OLD and the TLL label it British.[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes it from Proto-Brythonic, from Proto-Celtic *baskis (“bundle, load”),[1] and Köbler connects it with Proto-Indo-European *bʰasko- (“bundle”).[5][6] English basket has been derived from it, perhaps through a sense “wicker basket”, but Etymonline reports that the OED rejects the link and that no such Celtic word is known apart from Irish and Welsh words that may come from English.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Martial gives it a couplet in his Apophoreta: barbara dē pictīs vēnī bascauda Britannīs, sed mē iam māvult dīcere Rōma suam “I came, a barbarian basin, from the painted Britons, but Rome now prefers to call me her own”.[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Juvenal lists bascaudae together with a thousand dishes.[3][8] What it was is not clear from these two passages: the OLD and Georges take it for a basin, perhaps of metal,[2][9] a scholiast on Juvenal for a vessel in which cups and pots were washed, and glossaries for bronze bowls;[3][9] Lewis & Short guessed a woven mat or dish-holder of basketwork.[4] The TLL notes Old French ⟨baschoue⟩.[3]

Timeline

  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial calls it a basin from Britain.[3][5]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal lists it with dishes.[3][4]
  • early 13th century – English basket, which some derive from this word, is first recorded.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A kind of basin or bowl of British origin, used at table.[2][9][8]

Usage notes

The glossaries' bronze bowls and the scholiast's washing-bowl agree with the OLD's “basin”; the meaning “basket” rests only on the comparison with English.[3][4][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University 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. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn