clipeolum

Forms

clipeolum n (genitive clipeolī); second declension^[1][2][3] Lewis & Short also give the spellings clupeolum and clypeolum.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin clipeus (“round shield”) + -olum, a diminutive;^[1][5] Georges forms it from the neuter by-form ⟨clipeum⟩, and the TLL allows either.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first author is Hyginus, whose Fabulae have eīs … clipeola aēnea … dedit, “gave them small bronze shields”.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

The grammarian Diomedes speaks of small bronze shields striking against one another.^[5][3] Glossaries render it with Ancient Greek ἀσπιδίσκιον (aspidískion) and also explain it as rings or little wheels.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 2nd century AD? – Hyginus' Fabulae tell of a gift of small bronze shields.^[5][6][4]
• 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes speaks of small bronze shields striking together.^[5][3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small shield.^[1][2][3][7]
2. (in glossaries) A ring; a little wheel.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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 e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.