Etymologically
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cattia

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Forms

cattia f (genitive cattiae); first declension[1] Spellings include ⟨cathia⟩, ⟨catia⟩, ⟨captia⟩, ⟨cacia⟩, ⟨caza⟩, ⟨caxa⟩ and ⟨gazzia⟩.[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[4][2] Köbler, after Walde and Hofmann, mentions Ancient Greek κύαθος (kúathos, “cup”) as a possible source;[2] Wiktionary suggests a borrowing from Old High German kezzil, which would make it a relative of catīnus and catillus.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is a fourth-century papyrus.[4][2] The ancient glossaries equate it with trulla: one explains the word as the iron with which walls are plastered, another as an iron ladle.[4]

Semantic evolution

It lives on in Italian cazzuola “trowel” and Spanish cazo “ladle”.[4][5] In Medieval Latin it was a pot or vessel: Walter of Agilon has wine boiled in one, and Frederick II's book on falconry has eggs put in a wooden or iron one;[3] a charter of 1236 from Tyrol uses it as a measure of oil.[3] In technical recipes it was a melting pot or pan: the Compositiones Lucenses put metal in the catia of the furnace, and the Mappae Clavicula speaks of a bronze one.[3] Medical writers strained remedies through it, as through a sieve,[3] and British physicians used it for a pan and for a small pan pierced with many holes.[6]

Timeline

  • 4th century AD – A papyrus has the word.[4][2]
  • 7th/8th century – The Compositiones Lucenses use it of a melting pot.[3][2]
  • last quarter of the 12th century – The Mappae Clavicula speaks of a bronze one.[3][2]
  • 1236 – A charter from Tyrol uses it as a measure of oil.[3]
  • mid-13th century – Walter of Agilon has wine boiled in one.[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) A trowel; a ladle.[4][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A pot, vessel; a measure (of oil, grain).[3][2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A pan; a crucible.[3][6][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A sieve, colander.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences