Etymologically
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canalicius

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 00:37. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ka.naːˈlɪ.ki.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ka.naˈliː.t͡ʃi.us][1]

Forms

canālicius (feminine canālicia, neuter canālicium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin canālis (“channel, shaft”) + -icius.[2][1] ⟨canālis⟩ is from ⟨*cannālis⟩, from canna (“reed, cane”), a borrowing of Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its source is Pliny the Elder, aurum canālicium.[3][4][5] Köbler dates Pliny 23/24–79 AD.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant derived from shafts, of gold dug out of mine shafts, the same as canāliēnsis, and Gaffiot takes aurum canālicium as a vein of a gold mine.[2][5][3]

Timeline

  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Derived from shafts (of gold).[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press