Etymologically
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calamistratus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ka.ɫa.mɪsˈtraː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ka.la.misˈtraː.tus][1]

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.