bracchium

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈbrak.kʰi.ũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈbrak.ki.um]^[1]

Forms

bracchium n (genitive bracchiī or bracchī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “arm”).^[1][2][3] Lewis and Short prefer the spelling ⟨bracchium⟩ to ⟨brāchium⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citations for the arm are from Plautus.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant the forearm, as in Celsus, and the whole arm, as used in gestures, as a measure, as in Cato, and in phrases such as bracchia dare “to surrender” and mollī bracchiō “half-heartedly”.^[2][3] Of animals it meant a forelimb, a crab's claw or a polyp's tentacle, as in Pliny the Elder, and of trees a branch.^[2] It meant objects like an arm: a yard-arm, as in Virgil, the arm of a catapult, a leg of a pair of compasses, a spur of land or arm of the sea, a mole of a harbour, and in war an outwork linking two fortified points, as in Propertius and Livy.^[2] An inscription of 123/122 BC has bracio.^[2]

In Medieval Latin it meant an arm, and an animal's forelimb.^[6] It survives in Italian braccio, French bras, Spanish brazo and Romanian braț.^[1] English brachial comes from bracchiālis, and English pretzel goes back through German to a Medieval Latin *brachitella, a biscuit shaped like folded arms.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the arm.^[2][5]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it as a measure and of a vine branch.^[2][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a yard-arm and a harbour mole.^[2][5]
• 1836 – English pretzel is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The forearm; the arm.^[2]
2. A forelimb; a claw; a tentacle.^[2]
3. A branch.^[2]
4. A yard-arm; an arm of a machine.^[2]
5. A spur of land; an arm of the sea; a harbour mole.^[2]
6. (military) A connecting line of fortification.^[2]

Word family

• bracchiātus
• bracchiolum

Related words

• bracchiālis
• lacertus
• English brachial
• English pretzel

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 o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com