Etymologically
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cena

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkeː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛː.na][1]

Forms

cēna f (genitive cēnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kert(e)snā- (“meal”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kert-s-nh₂- (“portion”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *(s)kert- (“to cut”).[2][1] Cognate with Oscan kersnu (“meal”) and Umbrian śesna (“meal”).[2][3] Festus reports an old form cēsnās.[2][3] The traditional derivation supposes a sense “cut part, portion”, then “meal”, which de Vaan finds unproblematic; the root may be an extension of the one in carō “meat”.[2] Schrijver instead linked it with Cerēs, from a word for grain, which de Vaan does not find better.[2] The spellings coena and caena are not correct.[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from the Carmen Saliare and Naevius.[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the principal Roman meal, taken in early times about midday and later in the afternoon or evening, dinner or supper, as Plautus' man who will give no more dinners to parasites.[3][4][6] It also meant a course of a dinner, as Petronius' boar, and the company at table.[3]

In Christian Latin cēna was the Last Supper, Maundy Thursday, which commemorated it, and the Eucharist.[7] Its descendants include Italian cena, Spanish cena and Romanian cină.[1]

Timeline

  • Archaic period – The Carmen Saliare has it.[2]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of giving dinners to parasites.[3][5]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a course.[3][5]
  • Late Latin – It names the Last Supper.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Dinner, supper, the main meal of the day.[3]
  2. A course of a dinner.[3]
  3. The company at a dinner.[3]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) The Last Supper, Maundy Thursday, the Eucharist.[7]

Word family

  • cēnālis
  • cēnāticus
  • cēnula
  • domicēnium
  • antecēnium
  • cēnāculum
  • cēnō
  • concēna
  • cēnāculāria
  • cēnāculārius
  • cēnāculātus
  • cēnātiō
  • cēnātiuncula
  • cēnātor
  • cēnātōria
  • cēnātōrium
  • cēnātōrius
  • cēnāturiō
  • carō
  • English cenacle

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill