cavea

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈka.we.a]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkaː.ve.a]^[1]

Forms

cavea f (genitive caveae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a derivative of cavus “hollow”, made like alveus from alvus, from a feminine of an adjective *caveus.^[2][1][3] Cavus is *kawo-, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱouH-ó- (“hollow”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Plautine character threatens “I'll put you in a cage” to one who says he will become like a wild bird.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a cage, coop or enclosure for birds and animals, a stall or beehive, a fence round young plants in Columella, and a wicker crate, as in Apuleius' story of a lover hidden under one.^[2][6] It was also the auditorium of a theatre, the spectators' seats at games.^[2]

It kept the sense of a hollow or cavity, as the eye sockets and the roof of the mouth in Prudentius.^[2][7] In medieval Latin it meant a cellar, a mine shaft, a box.^[8] English cage came from it through Old French around 1200, and jail through Late Latin caveola.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a bird cage.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of fences round vines.^[2][5]
• c. 1200 – English cage is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cage, coop, enclosure (for birds or animals); a beehive.^[2][1]
2. A fence round plants.^[2]
3. A basket, crate.^[2]
4. The auditorium of a theatre; the spectators.^[2][1]
5. A hollow, cavity; the eye socket.^[2][1]
6. (Medieval Latin) A cellar; a mine shaft.^[8]

Word family

• caveola

Related words

• cavus
• English cage
• English jail

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com