Etymologically
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capillaris

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ka.pɪlˈlaː.rɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ka.pilˈlaː.ris][1]

Forms

capillāris (neuter capillāre); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin capillus (“hair”) + -āris.[2][1] Etymonline reports de Vaan's doubts about the proposed link between capillus and caput “head”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Martial uses the neuter capillare of a hair pomade.[4][5] Köbler dates Martial 40–102/103 AD.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant “of the hair”.[7] Festus records the arbor capillaris, a tree on which cut hair was hung, which Gaffiot explains as the hair of the Vestals after their consecration.[4][8] The herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius uses herba capillaris for maidenhair.[7][5]

In medieval Latin it meant hair-like, thin and fine, of leaves and grass in botany and in medicine; a medieval anatomy calls the finest veins of the liver capillares because they are slender like hairs.[9][10] English capillary is recorded in the 1650s, first in the sense “of the hair”.[3]

Timeline

  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses capillare “hair pomade”.[4][6]
  • 2nd half of the 2nd century AD – Festus records the arbor capillaris.[4][6]
  • end of the 4th century AD – Pseudo-Apuleius names the plant herba capillaris.[6][7]
  • 1650s – English capillary is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to the hair.[2][1]
  2. herba capillaris, maidenhair.[7][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Hair-like, very fine, venae capillares, capillary veins.[9][10]

Noun

  1. capillare, a hair pomade.[5][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b 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