Etymologically
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catella

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catella1 little bitch, lapdog

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈtɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈtɛl.la][1]

Forms

catella f (genitive catellae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The little bitch is from Latin catellus (“puppy”), its feminine, according to the OLD;[2] Wiktionary also allows an alteration of catula (“female puppy”).[1][3] The masculine catellus is a diminutive of catulus (“whelp”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kat-elo-, comparing Umbrian katel, the name of a sacrificial animal; he finds similar words in Germanic and Slavic but thinks an Indo-European origin unlikely.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Petronius uses it in the Satyricon;[5][3] Köbler records it first in Martial.[6]

Semantic evolution

It is a little bitch or lapdog, in Petronius, Martial and Juvenal.[2][3][5] Lewis and Short treat it as the feminine form of catellus, which Plautus already uses.[7] Like the masculine, it became a term of endearment: Jerome writes mi catella, “my little puppy”.[7][3]

Timeline

  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it in the Satyricon.[5][6]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a lapdog.[3][5][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it in his sixth satire.[3][7][6]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it as a term of endearment.[7][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A little bitch, a lapdog, a puppy.[2][3][5]
  2. A term of endearment.[7][3]

catella2 small chain

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kaˈtɛl.la][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kaˈtɛl.la][1]

Forms

catēlla f (genitive catēllae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The small chain is from Latin catēna (“chain”) + -la, a diminutive.[2][8][1] De Vaan dates it from Cato among the derivatives of catēna, which he tentatively reconstructs as Proto-Italic *kates-nā- and thinks might be derived from a form ⟨*kat-es-⟩, also found in caterva (“crowd”).[4] The grammarians Priscian and Nonius already explained it as a diminutive of catēna.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cato's work on agriculture,[6] where it stands beside ornamenta; the TLL takes these catellas as perhaps an ornament for horses.[8]

Semantic evolution

It is a light chain, usually an ornament.[2] Caecilius Statius uses it, and in Horace a courtesan weeps that her catella has been stolen.[3][8] Festus reports that women called an ornament they wore a catella, and Isidore of Seville describes catellae as small chains of linked rings worn round the neck.[8] It was also a military decoration: Livy has Quinctius rewarding his cavalry with catellae and brooches, and Pliny the Elder writes of scabbards rattling with little chains.[8][7][3] Paulinus of Nola once has the uncontracted form catēnula.[7] In medieval Britain it is an ornamental chain, glossed in Old English as swurracenteh;[9] Köbler lists an Old High German gloss ketinlin.[6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato lists catellas, perhaps horse ornaments.[8][6]
  • 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius Statius uses it.[3][5][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of chains given to cavalrymen as a reward.[8][7][6]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville describes it as a neck chain of linked rings.[8][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A light, usually ornamental chain; a necklace.[2][3][5]
  2. A small chain given as a military decoration.[8][3]

Usage notes

Lewis and Short treat both nouns under masculine headwords, catellus “puppy” and catellus “little chain”; the latter occurs once in Plautus, in a play on the word for puppy.[7] Köbler gives a third, medieval catella, “kitten”, from catta, found in Jacques de Vitry in the first half of the 13th century.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 d e f g h i j k l m n Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ 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