Etymologically

camino

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 07:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.

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

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of charcoal heaps and of a pit.[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To build in the shape of an oven or furnace.[1][4]
  2. To dig in the shape of a chimney; to make conical or vaulted.[5][2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de