candela

Forms

candēla f (genitive candēlae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin candeō (“to shine, glow”) + -ēla.^[2][1][3] The grammarian Priscian already explains it as formed from the second person ⟨candēs⟩ by dropping the ⟨s⟩.^[3] candeō goes back to Proto-Italic *kand-ē- (“to shine”);^[4] de Vaan explains its unexpected ⟨a⟩ as a vowel inserted in PIE formations such as Proto-Indo-European *knd-ro- (“shining”), and compares Welsh cann (“brilliant”) and Albanian hënë (“moon”).^[4]

Isidore of Seville also derived it from that verb, saying that it is consumed by burning (20.10.4).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cassius Hemina and Varro.^[4][6] Hemina's account, quoted by Pliny the Elder, speaks of a squared stone in the middle of a chest bound all round with waxed cords (evinctum candelis quoquoversus).^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The earliest candles were cords covered in wax, and Livy too has bundles of books wrapped in such cords.^[3][7] Varro derives candēlābrum from it,^[3][8] and it became the common word for a candle of wax or tallow.^[2][9] Paulus' epitome of Festus says that the poor used candelae and the rich wax tapers,^[3] and Martial too sets it against the lamp of the rich.^[9] Döderlein explains that a candela could be carried about like a torch, while a lucerna stood burning on a table.^[10] Candles of peeled rushes were carried before the dead at funerals,^[9][3] and Juvenal's candelam apponere valvis means “to set fire to the doors”.^[9][7]

In the account of Egeria's pilgrimage ad candelas means “by candlelight”.^[11] Medieval Latin also used it for a candlestick and for an oil lamp.^[12] It lives on in candela, chandelle and candela,^[3] and Old English borrowed it early, in the Church, as candel, the source of English candle.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 146 BC – Cassius Hemina uses it of waxed cords.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a candle.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of waxed cords around books.^[3][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial contrasts it with the lamp.^[9][6]
• after 384 AD – Egeria's pilgrimage has ad candelas, “by candlelight”.^[11][6]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville derives it from candēre.^[3][6]
• 1950 – English adopts candela as a unit of luminous intensity.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A candle or taper of wax or tallow.^[2][9]
2. A cord covered with wax.^[2][9]
3. (metonymy) Fire.^[9][7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A candlestick; an oil lamp.^[12]

Word family

• candēlābrum
• candēlābrus

Related words

• candefaciō
• candēlābrārius
• candēns
• candentia
• candeō
• candescō
• candicō
• candidus
• candificō
• candor
• English candle

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
11. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com