capistrum

Forms

capistrum n (genitive capistrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

The OLD regards it as probably from Latin capiō (“to take, seize”) + -trum, and Wiktionary derives it in the same way.^[2][1] The TLL calls the origin uncertain.^[3] Isidore of Seville explained it from the head (caput) of beasts of burden.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in Cato's De agricultura, in a list of the gear needed for a pressing room, where it means a band or fastening.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Varro uses it of the halters that keep young animals tied, and Virgil and Ovid of halters and headstalls generally; it was a leather muzzle or headstall for horses, mules and other animals.^[2][5][6] Juvenal speaks figuratively of the marriage halter.^[5][6] Columella uses it for a band that ties up vines.^[5][7]

In medieval law codes, such as the Lombard laws and the Bavarian law, it is the halter of a horse, and it was also a bandage for the nose or head in medicine.^[8][4] The TLL lists Romance descendants such as Italian capestro and Spanish cabestro.^[3]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato lists it among the gear of a pressing room.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of halters for young animals.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil mentions halters.^[5][4]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal speaks of the marriage halter.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A halter or headstall, a leather muzzle (for horses and other animals).^[2][5][6]
2. (figurative) A restraint: marītāle capistrum, the marriage halter.^[5][6]
3. A similar band or fastening for other purposes, as in a wine press or for tying vines.^[2][7]
4. (Medieval Latin, medicine) A bandage for the nose or head.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften