candelabrum

Forms

candēlābrum n (genitive candēlābrī); second declension^[1] Caecilius uses it as a masculine, candelabrum ardentem.^[2][3] Petronius has candēlābrus, and Arnobius cites candēlāber.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin candēla (“candle”) + -brum.^[5][3][1] candēla is from candeō (“to shine”),^[1] which de Vaan takes back to Proto-Italic *kand-ē- (“to shine”); if it belongs with a root ⟨*knd-⟩, its ⟨a⟩ arose in formations such as ⟨*knd-ro-⟩.^[6] He compares Welsh cann (“brilliant”) and Sanskrit चन्द्र (candrá-, “brilliant”).^[6] Varro, Festus and Isidore already derived it from candēla, Isidore as if it were “candle-bearer”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and de Vaan date it from Cato.^[7][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a stand for candles or lamps, a candlestick or lampstand,^[5][2] sometimes of costly workmanship: Cicero's Verrines tell of one made of precious stones.^[3][2] Servius reports that the older ones had hooks for candles or pitch-covered cords.^[3] The Bible versions use it for the golden lampstand of Exodus,^[3] and in Church Latin it is a candlestick or chandelier.^[8] British medieval texts use it for household candlesticks and for the church candlesticks, including the Easter candlestick.^[9] Through Old French it gave Middle English chaundeler and English chandelier (1736); English took candelabrum itself in 1811.^[10]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato has the word.^[7][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, of a jewelled candelabrum.^[3][7]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate, of the golden lampstand.^[3][7]
• Medieval Latin – Church candlesticks, among them the Easter candlestick.^[9]
• 1736 – English chandelier, through Old French.^[10]
• 1811 – Borrowed into English as candelabrum.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stand for burning candles or lamps, a candlestick, lampstand.^[5][2][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A candlestick; a chandelier.^[8]
3. (Medieval Latin) A church candlestick; the Easter candlestick.^[9]

Word family

• candēlābrārius

Related words

• candēla
• candeō
• English candelabrum
• English chandelier

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c 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
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com