Etymology and origin of the Latin word camino
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 23/24–79 AD, Pliny the Elder
- Ultimate origin
- Latin camīnus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Forms
camīnō (present infinitive camīnāre, perfect active camīnāvī, supine camīnātum); first conjugation[1][2]
Etymology
It is from Latin camīnus (“furnace, oven”) + -ō.[1][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Lewis & Short know it only from Pliny the Elder.[4] In his account of making charcoal, heaps of wood are built up with mud into the shape of a furnace.[3][5]
Semantic evolution
Lewis & Short call it very rare.[4] Pliny uses it a second time, in the passive participle, of a pit dug in the shape of a chimney;[3][5][2] Georges takes it there as vaulted, and Conte as conical.[3][5][2]
Timeline
Meanings
Verb
- To build in the shape of an oven or furnace.[1][4]
- To dig in the shape of a chimney; to make conical or vaulted.[5][2][3]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Descendants
- Italian camminare
Cite this entry
“Camino.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/camino. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
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