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caballus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word caballus

History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kaˈbal.lʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kaˈbal.lus][1]

Forms

caballus m (genitive caballī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a loanword, but its ultimate source is unclear.[2][1] Greek has Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kabállēs, “nag”) and a word for a workhorse from the 3rd century BC, too early to come from Latin, and Beekes takes the word to be an Asian loan, comparing a Persian word for a horse of mixed blood.[2][1] Köbler and others derive it from Celtic,[3][1] and the OLD compares Old Church Slavonic кобыла (kobyla, “mare”).[4][5] Isidore of Seville explained it from cavāre “to hollow”, because its hoof hollows the ground.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucilius, in the late 2nd century BC,[2][3] who speaks of ugly, slow nags.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a word for a workhorse or nag, used by Lucilius, Horace, Seneca and Petronius, while equus remained the normal word for a horse.[4][5] Horace's proverb optat arare caballus “the nag longs to plough” says that no one is content with his lot, and Juvenal jokingly calls Pegasus Gorgoneus caballus.[6]

In everyday speech it came to mean simply a horse,[7][5] and medieval writers use it in that general sense.[8] It survives in every branch of Romance as the ordinary word for a horse, as French cheval, Italian cavallo and Spanish caballo.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of slow nags.[4][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace rides his caballus and coins the proverb of the nag that wants to plough.[6][3]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal calls Pegasus the Gorgon's horse.[4][3]
  • Middle Ages – It is the ordinary word for a horse.[8][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horse, especially a workhorse, packhorse or nag.[4][6]
  2. Gorgoneus caballus: Pegasus.[4]
  3. (Late and Medieval Latin) A horse in general.[7][8]

Word family

  • caballa
  • caballārius
  • caballātiō
  • caballicō
  • caballīnus
  • caballiō
  • cavallus
  • equus
  • English cavalier
  • English chivalry
  • English cavalry

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Caballus.” Etymologically, 10 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/caballus. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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