chamulcus

Forms

chamūlcus m (genitive chamūlcī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek χαμουλκός (khamoulkós, “a large sledge for moving loads”).^[1][2][3][4] Wiktionary connects the Greek word with ἕλκω (hélkō), while Köbler leaves its further origin open.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The only ancient author the dictionaries cite for it is Ammianus Marcellinus, who tells how an obelisk was laid on chamulcī and drawn through the Ostian gate.^[4][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The dictionaries describe the machine differently: Georges as a large wooden sledge for moving heavy loads such as an obelisk, Gaffiot and Conte as a low cart for heavy loads, and Lewis & Short simply as a kind of machine.^[5][6][7][3] Du Cange explains it as a kind of low carriage, as its name shows, and quotes Greek–Latin glossaries that render the Greek word with traha, a sledge.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus describes an obelisk moved on chamulcī.^[4][3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A low sledge or truck for hauling very heavy loads, such as an obelisk.^{[5][6][7][4][2]}

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre