caminata

Forms

camīnāta f (genitive camīnātae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is short for a phrase meaning a room provided with a fireplace: from Latin camīnus (“fireplace”) + -āta, with camera (“chamber”) understood.^[1] Niermeyer derives it from the noun, and Köbler from the verb camīnō.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wiktionary dates its first use to 584, in the sense of a room with a fireplace.^[1]

Semantic evolution

In the early Middle Ages it was a heated room, especially in palaces, great houses and monasteries: a capitulary of the Frankish kings speaks of it,^[4] and Alcuin heads a poem for the room where the abbot sleeps.^[5] Hugeburc's life of Wynnebald tells of an altar set up in his room.^[5] From the living room it came to mean a bedroom.^[2]

According to Wiktionary, the sense “chimney”, first found in the 9th century, grew up in northern France, where camīnus itself had dropped out of use.^[1][2] The MLW records it also for the household office of a monastery, a dwelling house, a fortified building, a hut or cell and a ship's cabin,^[4] and Du Cange for a treasury.^[6]

It passed into Romance as Old French cheminee and Occitan caminada,^[1] and it was borrowed as Proto-West Germanic *kaminādā, the source of German Kemenate.^[1][3]

Timeline

• 584 – It is first recorded, of a room with a fireplace.^[1]
• c. 778 – Hugeburc's life of Wynnebald uses it.^[5][3]
• second half of the 8th century – Alcuin uses it for the abbot's room.^[5][3]
• 9th century – It is first used for a chimney.^[1]
• 1012–1018 – Thietmar of Merseburg uses it.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A room with a fireplace, heated room; living room, parlour.^[2][4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A bedroom.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A chimney.^[2][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) A dwelling house; a fortified building; a cell or hut; a ship's cabin.^[4]
5. (Medieval Latin) A treasury.^[6]

Related words

• camīnus
• camīnō
• camera

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d 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
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre