Etymologically
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capella

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capella1 she-goat

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈpɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈpɛl.la][1]

Forms

capella f (genitive capellae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The “she-goat” is from Latin caper (“he-goat”) + -la, a diminutive,[2] though Wiktionary and the TLL make it the diminutive of the feminine capra (“she-goat”),[1][3] as the grammarians Scaurus and Priscian already did.[3] De Vaan traces caper to Proto-Italic *kapro- (“he-goat”) and thinks it more likely a loanword than an inherited word, since no single Indo-European word for “goat” can be reconstructed; it resembles Old Irish gabor (“goat”) and related Celtic words.[4] Cognate with Umbrian kaprum (“he-goat”), Ancient Greek κάπρος (kápros, “wild boar”) and Old Norse hafr (“he-goat”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first example in the OLD is in Varro's book on farming, where it means a she-goat.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a she-goat or kid; the TLL notes that it is very rare in prose and frequent in the poets from Pomponius on.[2][5][3] Cicero uses it of a statue of a goat.[5][2] It was also the name of a bright star in Auriga, the “rainy star of the Olenian goat” in Ovid.[2] In medieval texts it keeps the meaning she-goat, also in allegory after the goats of the Last Judgement in Matthew.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of the she-goat.[2][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of bearded goats.[2][8]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid of the star in Auriga.[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A she-goat, kid.[2][5][1]
  2. The star Capella in the constellation Auriga.[2][1]

capella2 cape; chapel

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈpɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈpɛl.la][1]

Forms

capella f (genitive capellae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The “cape; chapel” is from Latin cappa (“cape, hooded cloak”) + -ella, a Medieval Latin diminutive meaning “little cape”.[9][6][10] Its sense “chapel” goes back to the cape of Saint Martin, which the Frankish kings kept as a relic: the 9th-century monk Notker explains that they called their sanctuary by its name.[6][11] Etymonline mentions a second theory, that it referred to a canopy or hood covering the altar.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first dated source is a Merovingian diploma of 679,[8] which, like other judgements of the Frankish kings, has oaths sworn in the royal oratory on Saint Martin's cape.[11][6]

Semantic evolution

From the cape of Saint Martin the word passed to the royal sanctuary that housed it and the worship held there, to the body of clerics who served it, and to a chapel in one of the king's palaces.[9][11] Einhard uses it for the church plate and vestments of Charlemagne's chapel.[11][6] Because records were kept in the palace chapel, it also meant the royal chancery.[11]

More generally it was a chapel or oratory on a private estate, a church without full parish rights; a council of Paris in 829 complains of the small buildings “which custom calls capellae”.[9][11] Later medieval texts use it for a funeral canopy, a covered market hall, the cap of a still and the part of a buckle.[11] English took it as chapel through Old French in the early 13th century,[10] and Church Latin also used it for a choir;[12] a capella means unaccompanied.[12]

Timeline

  • 679 – A Merovingian diploma has oaths sworn on Saint Martin's cape.[8][11]
  • 829 – A council of Paris of private chapels.[11]
  • c. 830 – Einhard of the plate and vestments of Charlemagne's chapel.[11][8]
  • early 13th century – Borrowed into English as chapel through Old French.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A cape, hooded cloak, especially the cape of Saint Martin.[9][6][11]
  2. (Medieval Latin) The royal sanctuary and its worship; the clerics serving it; its plate and vestments; the royal chancery.[9][11][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A chapel, oratory, church without full parish rights.[9][11][12]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A funeral canopy; a covered market hall.[11]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A choir;[12] a capella, unaccompanied.[12]

Word family

  • capellānus

Usage notes

Capella was also a Roman cognomen, borne by an elegiac poet named by Ovid and by the grammarian Martianus Capella of the 5th century.[5][1] The spelling cappella is common for the medieval word.[9][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  12. ^ a b c d e Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson