cambium

Forms

cambium n (genitive cambiī or cambī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

Niermeyer, Köbler and the Catalan glossary derive it from the verb, as from Latin cambiō (“to exchange”) + -ium.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary takes the opposite view: the noun is the older word, from Gaulish cambion, a derivative of Proto-Celtic *kambos (“twisted, crooked”), and the verb was made from it.^[1]

Wiktionary connects the Celtic adjective, perhaps, with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂mbós (“crooked”), and compares camur and Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ, “winding, bending; turn, change”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it in an Italian charter of 756.^[3] In the Freising traditions of the late 8th century it is an exchange of property: anyone who wants to alter this exchange.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Wiktionary gives Late Latin “a change” as its oldest sense.^[1] In early medieval law it was above all the exchange of lands: the contract of exchange, the charter that recorded it, and the property received.^[5][2] A Catalan charter of 851 already has the plural camios.^[4]

It was also the exchange of money, and by metonymy the money-changer's table or office.^[2][5] English sources use it, with littera, for a bill of exchange,^[6] and Hungarian sources for the rate of exchange.^[7] Du Cange records it in Turin statutes of 1360 for the right of reprisal,^[8] and the MLW for a changeable substance of the body in natural philosophy.^[5] In Neo-Latin it could mean a bank.^[9]

English took it in the 1670s for the layer of tissue between the wood and the bark of a tree.^[10] Italian cambio and Portuguese câmbio continue it.^[1]

Timeline

• 756 – An Italian charter uses it.^[3]
• 783/793 – The Freising traditions use it of an exchange of property.^[5]
• 851 – A Catalan charter has the plural camios.^[4]
• 1360 – Turin statutes use it for reprisal.^[8]
• 1670s – English borrows cambium in botany.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A change.^[1]
2. (Medieval Latin) An exchange, especially of lands; a contract or charter of exchange; the thing exchanged.^[5][2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Money-changing; a money-changer's table or office.^[2][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) A bill of exchange; the rate of exchange.^[6][7]
5. (Medieval Latin, law) Reprisal.^[8]
6. (New Latin) A bank.^[9]

Related words

• English cambium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
5. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
8. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com