camisia

Forms

camisia f (genitive camisiae); first declension^[1] Also camisa, in Venantius Fortunatus and the Salic Law,^[2] and many medieval spellings such as camissa and chemisia.^[3][4][5] The Romance languages show that the second syllable had a long i.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *hamiþi (“shirt”) in Wiktionary's account,^[1] which Köbler and Etymonline take to have come into Latin through Gaulish.^[3][6] The TLL calls it a foreign word, perhaps Gaulish or Germanic, and compares Old High German hemidi;^[2] Etymonline compares Old English hemeðe, and Lewis and Short simply call it Gallic.^[6][7] Wiktionary and Köbler trace the Germanic word to Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- (“to cover”).^[1][3]

Isidore of Seville derived it from cama “low bed”, saying that people sleep in it on their beds.^[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome (c. 383–419/420 AD) has it in his letters, for a linen garment,^[9][10][3] and Etymonline calls it originally a soldiers' word.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a linen shirt worn next to the skin, also slept in,^[9][7] and Paulus' epitome of Festus mentions it.^[7][9] Gregory the Great uses it too,^[3] and in church Latin it named the alb.^[11][3]

In Medieval Latin it was the usual word for a shirt or undergarment, of laymen, women, monks and clerics, and the shirt of a saint kept as a relic or offered as a gift.^[4][5] A papal letter that Bede copied sends a camisia trimmed with gold as a blessing from Saint Peter.^[5] Köbler also records the senses “choir robe of the clergy” and “book cover”.^[3]

It lives on in Italian camicia, French chemise and Spanish camisa.^[7][10][6] Late Old English took it as cemes, and after about 1200 the French form chemise replaced it in English.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in his letters.^[9][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the name from sleeping in bed.^[8][3]
• 625 – A papal letter in Bede's history sends a shirt adorned with gold.^[5]
• late Old English – Borrowed as cemes “shirt”.^[6]
• after c. 1200 – The French form chemise takes over in English.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A linen shirt or undergarment worn next to the skin.^[9][12][7]
2. (Late Latin) A nightgown.^[7][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) An alb.^[11][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) The garment of a monk or cleric; a saint's shirt kept as a relic.^[4][5]
5. (Medieval Latin) A cover of a book.^[3]

Related words

• cama
• English chemise

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e 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 c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
9. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
11. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
12. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.