Etymologically
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caliga

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Forms

caliga f (genitive caligae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[2][1][3] An older explanation as a shortened compound meaning “binding the heel” was already rejected by Walde and Hofmann.[2] De Vaan asks whether it is connected with a word for a wooden shoe recorded in Paul the Deacon's epitome of Festus, or with calix (“cup”);[2] the OLD and Lewis and Short compare calceus (“shoe”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a letter of Cicero: mihi caligae eius et fasciae crētātae nōn placēbant, “I did not like his boots and his whitened leg-bands” (Ad Atticum 2.3.1).[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The caliga was a half-boot reaching to the shin, its sole studded with nails; it was worn by muleteers, peasants and women, but above all it was the boot of the common Roman soldier.[6][5] By metonymy it stood for service in the ranks: Seneca says that the caliga let Marius go but the consulship kept him busy, and speaks of a man brought ā caligā, from the ranks, to the consulship.[4][6][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it was also a stocking or sandal worn by a bishop.[8] The name Caligula, derived from it, is found from Tacitus on.[2]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions someone's boots in a letter to Atticus.[4][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it for service as a common soldier.[4][3]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus has the name Caligula.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A heavy boot or half-boot, especially that of the Roman soldiers.[4][5][6]
  2. (metonymy) Military service in the ranks.[4][5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A stocking or sandal worn by a bishop.[8]

Word family

  • caligāris
  • caligārius
  • caligātus
  • caligula

Usage notes

Georges notes clāvus caligāris, the hobnail of such boots.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson