carpentarius

Forms

carpentārius (feminine carpentāria, neuter carpentārium); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Medieval spellings include ⟨carpenterius⟩, ⟨carpintarius⟩ and ⟨charpentarius⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin carpentum (“two-wheeled carriage”) + -ārius.^[4][1][5] The noun is the adjective used on its own, short for ⟨artifex carpentārius⟩, “carriage-making craftsman”.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder is its first author: he says that cork is used above all in the workshops of carriage-makers.^[5][7][4][2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective meant “of carriages”: the Historia Augusta has artifex carpentārius for a carriage-maker and a carriage vehicle for Zenobia,^[5][7] and the Vulgate has opus carpentārium in Exodus.^[5] As a noun it was a cartwright.^[4][7] The jurist Tarruntenus Paternus uses the noun,^[5][8] Diocletian's Edict on Prices names them,^[5][2] a law of 337 counts them among the craftsmen,^[5] Vegetius recommends recruiting them for military service, and the Theodosian Code mentions those assigned to the public post.^[5][7] Isidore of Seville calls it a special name, because such a man makes only carriages.^[5][9] Later writers apparently used it for a carpenter in general,^[5] and Jerome speaks of a carriage-maker who made a bench.^[5]

In Medieval Latin it was the usual word for a carpenter or woodworker, whether builder, shipwright, wheelwright, cooper or turner;^[3][10][2] a Hungarian charter of 1109 counts the households of an abbess's carpenters.^[11] Old English glosses render it “wain-wright”.^[12] The adjective came to mean “of carpentry”.^[10][3] It is the source of French charpentier and Spanish carpintero,^[5][6] and of English carpenter through Anglo-French.^[6]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of the workshops of carriage-makers.^[5][2]
• 161–182 AD – The jurist Tarruntenus Paternus uses the noun.^[5][2]
• 301 AD – Diocletian's Edict on Prices names them.^[2]
• 370 AD – A law in the Theodosian Code mentions those serving the public post.^[5][7]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as the maker of carriages only.^[5][2]
• 1109 – A Hungarian charter counts the households of carpenters.^[11]
• c. 1300 – English carpenter is recorded, from Anglo-French.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of carriages or wagons, of carriage-making.^[4][7][5]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of carpentry, of woodwork.^[10][3][11]

Noun

1. A cartwright, carriage-maker.^[4][7][9][5]
2. (Late Latin) A carriage-driver, coachman.^[7][1]
3. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A carpenter, woodworker.^{[5][10][3][13]}

Related words

• English carpenter

Usage notes

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot also record a feminine noun carpentāria, a carriage-maker's workshop, from Firmicus Maternus;^[7][14] Gaffiot notes that the Kroll–Skutsch edition does not have it.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
10. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
14. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.