cera

Pronunciation

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

Forms

cēra f (genitive cērae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably a loanword, either borrowed from Ancient Greek κηρός (kērós, “wax”) or from an unknown language.^[2][3][1] De Vaan notes that if the Doric form with ⟨ā⟩ is genuine, Latin took the Ionic-Attic form and made it a feminine in -a.^[2] Wiktionary and the TLL also mention Lithuanian korỹs (“honeycomb”), and Wiktionary Albanian qiri (“candle”), suggesting a substrate word.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^[2][5] who has a man filling four wax tablets.^[6] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was beeswax, and in the plural the wax cells of bees.^[6] Wax was used for sealing and plugging, for seals on documents, for coloured paint, and for portrait masks of ancestors, and cēra or cērae was a writing tablet coated with wax, or one page of it.^[6][7]

In medieval Latin it meant a candle, especially the Easter candle.^[8] The DÉRom reconstructs Proto-Romance */ˈker-a/, with the senses “beeswax”, “candle” and “earwax”, continued in every branch of Romance.^[9] English cere “wax” came from French cire.^[10] Its derivative cēreus meant a wax candle.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus fills four wax tablets.^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of the last page of a ledger.^[6][5]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius compares something to wax melting on fire.^[6][5]
• late 15th century – English cere is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. beeswax, wax.^[6]
2. (plural) The wax cells of a honeycomb.^[6]
3. A wax seal; wax for plugging.^[6][7]
4. A wax-coated writing tablet; a page of one.^[6]
5. (Medieval Latin) A candle, especially the Easter candle.^[8]

Word family

• cērārius
• cēreus
• cērificō
• cērinus
• cērō
• cērōsus
• cērula

Related words

• English cere

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com