Etymologically
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capsa

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkap.sa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkap.sa][1]

Forms

capsa f (genitive capsae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Proto-Italic *kap-s-o- (“container”), from the root of capiō “to take”, or built directly on an s-present of that root.[2][1] The Oxford Latin Dictionary also compares Albanian kapase.[3] Lewis & Short, Georges and the Thesaurus derive it from capiō as well.[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it of a case for books.[2][3] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a cylindrical case for book rolls, in Cicero and Horace, who tells of a poet burnt on a pyre of his own cases and books.[3][4] Pliny and Martial use it of a box for fruit.[4][8]

In medieval Latin it was a reliquary, a pyx for the host and the frame of a window.[9] British writers used it of a chest or casket, a case for the corporal, a reliquary, an organ case and a scabbard.[10] It survives as Italian cassa and Portuguese caixa.[1] Through Old North French casse it gave English case “box”, and through Italian or Provençal and French caisse English cash.[11]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a book case.[3][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of book cases.[3][7]
  • early 14th century – English case “box” is recorded.[11]
  • 1590s – English cash is recorded, first as “money box”.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cylindrical case for book rolls; a box, case.[3][4]
  2. A box for fruit.[4][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A reliquary; a pyx.[9][10]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A chest, casket; a scabbard; an organ case.[10]

Word family

  • capsārius
  • capsella
  • capsula

Usage notes

Capsa was also the name of a town in North Africa, today Gafsa, which Marius plundered in the war against Jugurtha.[4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com