coccineus

Forms

coccineus (feminine coccinea, neuter coccineum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin coccinus (“scarlet”) + -eus,^[2][1] the suffix being added to an adjective that already meant “scarlet”.^[2] coccinus is from Ancient Greek κόκκινος (kókkinos),^[2] an adjective from κόκκος (kókkos), which named the kernel of a fruit and the berry-like gall of the kermes oak that yielded a scarlet dye.^[3] Latin also took over the noun as coccum, the kermes insect or the scarlet dye made from it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Petronius' Satyricon, which mentions a scarlet pallium and a scarlet cushion stuffing.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is used of dyed cloth and garments;^[2][4] Martial heads an epigram with lacernae coccineae, scarlet cloaks.^[2][4] The shorter coccinus has the same sense.^[2][4]

In Christian Latin it appears in the Bible: the Old Latin version of the Apocalypse has a woman dressed in purple and scarlet.^[5] Isidore of Seville says that a tunic the Greeks call phoenicea is called coccinea in Latin.^[5] Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin kept the sense “scarlet”.^[6][7]

Timeline

• before 66 AD – Petronius uses it of a scarlet cloak and cushion stuffing.^[2][8]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial titles an epigram on scarlet cloaks with it.^[2][8]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville equates it with the Greek name of a red tunic.^[5][8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Scarlet, dyed with kermes.^[2][4][1]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Scarlet, of garments.^[6][5]

Usage notes

The neuter plural coccina (from coccinus) was used as a noun for scarlet garments.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de