cavitas

Forms

cavitās f (genitive cavitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin cavus (“hollow”) + -tās in Late Latin.^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Late Latin medical writers: Theodorus Priscianus speaks of the cavity of the vessels.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It stayed a technical word for a hollow or cavity, chiefly of the body: Caelius Aurelianus uses it of the eye sockets and the hollow of the foot.^[3][2] Medieval writers used it for hollows in walls, tombs and the ground,^[5][6] and for hollowing out by water;^[5] in charters it marks a hollow in a valley along a boundary,^[7] and Copernicus uses it for hollows in the figures of constellations.{ELP} Through French cavité it gave English cavity in the 1540s.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 400 AD – Theodorus Priscianus uses it of the cavity of the vessels.^[3][4]
• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of the eye sockets.^[3][9][4]
• 2nd quarter of the 9th century – Walahfrid Strabo uses it for the hollow of a tomb.^[5][4]
• 1322 – A Hungarian charter uses it for a hollow in a valley on a boundary.^[7]
• 1540s – English borrows cavity through French.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A hollow, cavity, especially in the body.^[3][2][10]
2. (Medieval Latin) A hollow in a building or in the ground; a hollowing out by water.^[5][6]

Related words

• English cavity

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill