Etymologically
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colaphus

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Forms

colaphus m (genitive colaphī); second declension[1] Pomponius writes it colafus.[2][3] Quintilian's manuscripts and the glossaries have colophus.[3] Medieval texts also have colapus and colpus.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κόλαφος (kólaphos, “a blow with the fist”).[2][6][7][1] Köbler compares the Greek word with Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“to strike”).[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Plautus, who uses it often, mostly in the plural:[8][6] colapho me icit, “he hit me with his fist”.[9]

Semantic evolution

It is a punch or cuff, a blow with the clenched fist.[2][10] Döderlein contrasts it with alapa, a slap with the open hand on the face, given as a light punishment;[11] colaphus is a blow on the head with the fist, given in anger.[11] Terence has colaphōs infringere, Quintilian colaphum dūcere, and Seneca has colaphīs caedī, “to be beaten with fists”.[6][10] In Medieval Latin it is used of the blows Christ suffered in the Passion.[5][12] Medieval Latin, with the forms colapus and colpus, also uses it of a blow in general and of the slap in the face given to Jews at Easter.[4][5] Through colpus it is the source of French coup and Italian colpo.[4][9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it, often in the plural.[8][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[6][8]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca has colaphīs caedī.[10][8]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian has colaphum dūcere.[6][8]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it in his poem on virginity.[12][8]
  • Medieval Latin – The form colpus appears, the source of French coup.[4][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blow with the fist, a cuff, a buffet.[2][6][13]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A blow in general; the slap in the face given to Jews at Easter.[4][5]

Word family

  • colaphizō
  • percolopō
  • alapa
  • French coup
  • Italian colpo

Usage notes

Plautus also uses Colaphus as a slave's name in the Captīvī.[10][3]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  11. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  12. ^ a b 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
  13. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson