Etymologically
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boia

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbo.i.a][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbɔː.i.a][1]

Forms

boia f (genitive boiae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3][4] The TLL considers that it may be taken from the name of the people called the Boii, following Solmsen.[3] Wiktionary instead derives it from Ancient Greek βοείη (boeíē, “ox hide”), from βοῦς (boûs, “ox”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Plautus.[4][3] In the Asinaria it closes a list of punishments that includes chains, prisons and the stocks,[3] and in the Captivi he plays on the name of the Boii: nunc Siculus non est, Boius est, boiam terit, “now he is no Sicilian, he is a Boian: he wears a boia”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a collar or yoke for the neck worn by criminals and slaves.[2][1] Festus, in Paul the Deacon's epitome, explains boiae as a kind of bonds, of wood as well as iron,[3] Isidore of Seville calls it the collar of the condemned,[3] and the glossaries describe chains for the neck and wooden or iron bonds.[3]

In Medieval Latin, spelled boja, bogia or boga, it was a shackle or handcuff.[5] The TLL, following Meyer-Lübke, gives its Romance descendants as Italian boja, French buie and Old Spanish boya;[3] Wiktionary lists Italian boia.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus lists boiae among the punishments of slaves.[3][4]
  • 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus explains it as wooden or iron bonds.[3][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville calls it the collar of the condemned.[3][4]
  • 1214 – Köbler cites a charter that uses it.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A collar or yoke for the neck worn by criminals; a fetter.[2][3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A shackle, handcuff.[5]

Usage notes

The TLL records a separate boia as the name of a fish in the Latin Dioscorides.[3] Niermeyer has a second medieval boja meaning a loft or granary.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 e f g h i j k l m n Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill