Etymologically
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cervical

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɛrˈwiː.kaɫ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [t͡ʃerˈviː.kal][1]

Forms

cervīcal n (genitive cervīcālis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cervīx (“neck”) + -ālis,[2][3] the neuter of an adjective in ⟨-ālis⟩ used as a noun, shortened to ⟨-al⟩ like other neuters of the type; the full form ⟨cervīcāle⟩ is also found.[1][4][5] De Vaan finds no clear analysis of cervīx.[6] Isidore of Seville explained the name from pillows being put under the neck.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler, Georges and Conte record it first in Celsus,[7][5][8] meaning a pillow for the head.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It is the ordinary word for a pillow, cushion or bolster in Petronius, Martial, Juvenal, Pliny the Younger and Suetonius,[4][2] equated with pulvīnus;[4] the glossaries give Ancient Greek ἐπαυχένιον (epaukhénion) for it.[5] Cassiodorus has the longer form cervīcāle.[4][5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it still means a pillow.[9]

Medieval British writers used it for pillows and bolsters, and in inventories and customaries for cushions placed on the altar as ornaments.[10]

Timeline

  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it for a pillow.[7][5][8]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius uses it.[4][7]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it in the singular.[4][7]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus gives the form cervīcāle.[4][5][7]
  • 1345 – An inventory at Lichfield lists eighteen altar cushions (servicalia).[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A pillow, cushion, bolster.[2][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A cushion used as an ornament of the altar.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b c 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