calamistratus

Forms

calamistrātus (feminine calamistrāta, neuter calamistrātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin calamistrum (“curling tongs”) + -ātus.^[2][3] Wiktionary and VOLI derive it from the masculine form calamister of the same noun.^[1][4] The noun is apparently from Ancient Greek καλάμιστρος (kalámistros), from κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”), after the tube-like shape of the heated irons;^[1] Lewis & Short and Köbler connect it with calamus (“reed”).^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Asinaria, as a term of abuse for an effeminate man with curled hair.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Used of men, it was a reproach for effeminacy.^[5][2] Cicero applies it to curled hair and to a dancer.^[5][3] Jerome uses it of foppish boys with curled locks and of a steward, and Ambrose pairs it with torquati, “wearing neck chains”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as an insult for an effeminate man.^[7][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of curled hair and of a dancer.^[5][6]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it in a letter.^[3][6]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of foppish boys.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having the hair artificially curled, effeminately adorned.^[2][5]
2. (of hair) Curled with curling tongs.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.