candela
Pronunciation
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
- A candle or taper of wax or tallow.[2][9]
- A cord covered with wax.[2][9]
- (metonymy) Fire.[9][7]
- (Medieval Latin) A candlestick; an oil lamp.[12]
Word family
- candēlābrum
- candēlābrus
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
- ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
- ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com