canticulum

Forms

canticulum n (genitive canticulī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin canticum + -ulum, a diminutive of the word for a song.^[2][1][3] Canticum itself goes back to cantus (“song, singing”) and the verb canō (“to sing”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest quotations are fragments preserved by later grammarians: the poet Septimius Serenus, quoted by Terentianus Maurus, uses it of a little song,^[5][6][3] and a line of Pomponius quoted by Nonius has it for a short incantation.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The OLD records only the sense “song” for Classical Latin.^[2] In Church Latin it named a brief song or hymn,^[7] and it is the Latin source of the English word canticle, a short hymn.^[4]

Timeline

• early 13th century – English takes it over as canticle, a short hymn.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A little song, a short poem to be sung.^[2][3][5]
2. A short incantation or charm.^[3][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A brief song or hymn.^[7]

Related words

• English canticle

References

1. ^ a b c 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson