Etymologically
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conclave

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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]

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