cambio

Pronunciation

• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkam.bi.o]^[1]

Forms

cambiō (present infinitive cambiāre, perfect active cambiāvī); first conjugation, no passive, no supine stem^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cambium (“exchange”) + -ō.^[1] The noun is from Gaulish.^[1] The OLD calls the verb Gallic, and the TLL says it seems to be Gaulish.^[2][3] Etymonline connects the Celtic word with Proto-Indo-European *kemb- (“to bend, crook”).^[1][4] The grammarians Charisius and Priscian record an older fourth-conjugation form cambīre with the perfect campsī, which Priscian thought came from Ancient Greek κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Apuleius, in his Apology, speaks of exchanging labour with one's neighbours.^[3][6] Köbler dates Apuleius about 125–175 AD.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to exchange or barter, and Lewis & Short call it post-classical and very rare.^[2][8] The land surveyor Siculus Flaccus uses it beside buying and selling, and the Salic Law of someone who has bought or exchanged a horse.^[3] It spread in medieval Latin for exchanging possessions in law and for money-changing.^[1][9][7]

It lies behind Italian cambiare, French changer and Spanish cambiar.^[3][1] English change came from Old French changier about 1200.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of exchanging work.^[3][7]
• c. 362 AD – Charisius records the fourth-conjugation form.^[3][7]
• 6th century AD – Priscian discusses its perfect.^[3][7]
• c. 1200 – English change is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To exchange, barter.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) To exchange property; to change money.^[9][7]

Related words

• cambium
• English change

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften