conclave

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kɔŋˈkɫaː.wɛ]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koŋˈklaː.ve]^[1]

Forms

conclāve n (genitive conclāvis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from con- and clāvis “key”, or from cum “with” and the ablative of clāvis.^[2][3][1] Festus explains the plural conclāvia as places that are locked with one key.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses the plural in the Mostellaria and the Aulularia.^[4][3] Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was any room that could be locked, such as a girl's chamber in Terence, a bedroom or a dining room in Cicero, and also a cage, stall or coop for animals.^[4][6][7] Döderlein calls it the most general word for a closed room, especially a room of state, while cubiculum is a room for living or sleeping.^[8]

In medieval Latin it meant a private room, a sacristy and the enclosure of a monastery.^[9][10] It also named the locked room where the cardinals meet to elect a pope and the meeting itself.^[9][11] English conclave is recorded in that sense in the late 14th century.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of rooms.^[4][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a girl's chamber.^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of bedrooms and dining rooms.^[6][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it.^[4][5]
• late 14th century – English conclave is recorded of the papal conclave.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A room that can be locked, a chamber; a bedroom, dining room.^[2][1]
2. A cage, stall or coop for animals.^[4][7]
3. (Medieval Latin) A sacristy; the enclosure of a monastery.^[9]
4. (Medieval Latin) The papal conclave.^[9][11]

Related words

• cubiculum
• English conclave

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes conclave, any closed room, from cubiculum, a living or sleeping room.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
9. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com