Etymologically
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carrus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkar.rʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkar.rus][1]

Forms

carrus m (genitive carrī); second declension[1] A neuter carrum occurs in the Bellum Hispaniense, in Nonius and in Isidore, with a plural carra in late texts.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Gaulish *karros (“wagon”), from Proto-Celtic *karros, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós, the zero grade of the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”) that also produced the native currus “chariot”, so that it is a doublet of the native word.[1][4] The OLD and Gaffiot label it a Gaulish word,[5][6] and the TLL reports the view that it is Gaulish, supported by the Gaulish town name Carrodunum.[7] Isidore of Seville derived it from cardō “pivot”, from the pivots of its wheels.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Sisenna (120–67 BC), whom Nonius quotes together with Varro for the word;[4][2] it named the wagon of the Gauls.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Caesar it is the baggage wagon of the Helvetii and other Gauls, and Livy and Vegetius use it the same way.[2][6] Lewis and Short call it a two-wheeled cart for carrying loads, Georges a four-wheeled transport wagon.[2][3] Nonius and Porphyrio treat it as the everyday word for a vehicle, and it was still current in the Theodosian Code.[7][2]

In medieval Latin it meant any cart or wagon, including iron-tyred carts, harvest carts and hand carts, and also a cartload, which in England became a unit of weight.[8][1][4] The Romance languages inherited it as Italian carro, Spanish carro, Romanian car and Old French char and carre,[1] and its derivatives gave Italian carriera and French carrière, the source of career, and Italian caricare, the source of caricatura.[4] In New Latin it serves for the motor car.[1]

Timeline

  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna uses it, as quoted by Nonius.[2][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar describes the wagons of the Helvetii.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of enemy wagons.[2][4]
  • c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it in his military handbook.[2][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville has the neuter carrum and derives it from cardo.[7][4]
  • 762 – An English charter grants the entry of one cart into a wood.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A Gallic wagon, a baggage cart.[5][2]
  2. A cartload, a wagonload.[1][4]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A cart or wagon of any kind; a cartload as a unit of weight.[8][1]
  4. (New Latin) A motor car.[1]

Word family

  • carrārius
  • carricō
  • carrūca

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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ 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