caudatus

Forms

caudātus (feminine caudāta, neuter caudātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin cauda (“tail”) + -ātus, an adjective of possession.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler lists Gaufredus Malaterra (11th century) among its first sources;^[2] Wiktionary dates it from at least the middle of the 12th century, in the sense having a tail.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Its basic sense is having a tail, used by Albertus Magnus of the river crayfish and of a puppy born with a tail.^[3] A comet was a stella caudata, a star with a tail of hair.^[3][4] Of letters and musical notes it meant having a long stroke, and of script, elongated;^[3][5][6] in surgery a probe or tent with a band attached was caudata, so that it would not be drawn inside;^[3] and verse with matching final syllables, rhymed, was caudatum.^[3][6]

Applied to people it meant wearing braids, or perhaps cowardly: the beast epic Ysengrimus speaks of the “tailed Englishman”,^[3] and caudati was a taunt against the English, recorded by Jacques de Vitry and Matthew Paris.^[7] It passed into French caudé and Italian codato, and was borrowed as English caudate.^[1]

Timeline

• 11th century – Gaufredus Malaterra uses it.^[2]
• 12th century – Helinand of Froidmont uses it.^[2]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of tailed animals and of comets.^[3][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Having a tail, tailed.^[5][3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of a comet: having a tail of light.^[3][4][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Of letters, notes and script: with a long stroke, elongated.^[5][3][6][1]
4. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Of a probe or tent: with a band attached.^[3]
5. (Medieval Latin) Of verse: rhymed.^[3][6]
6. (Medieval Latin) Of people: wearing braids; perhaps also cowardly.^[3][2]

Related words

• English caudate

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 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 m Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
5. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre