Etymologically
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copula

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkoː.pʊ.ɫa][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.pu.la][1]

Forms

cōpula f (genitive cōpulae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is a contraction of ⟨*coapula⟩, from con- “together”, apiō “to fasten” and the suffix -ula.[2][1][3] Köbler traces ⟨apiō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep- (“to seize”).[4] A contracted ⟨copla⟩ is also found.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC, and Plautus uses it of a bond.[4][6] The OLD also cites Accius for a mooring cable.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a bond, fastening, a rope, as Accius' twisted ropes, a leash in Ovid, and in Apuleius perhaps a ligament.[2][6] Lewis and Short note that Cicero does not use it.[5] In Nepos it meant a close tie between persons or things.[2] In grammar, from Varro, it was used of pairs of contrasted forms and of connective particles, and in Gellius of words joined in a compound.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a union, bond.[7] Medieval Latin used it for marriage and a team of horses.[8] It survives in Italian coppia and Spanish copla, and Old French cople gave English couple in the late 13th century; English copula “linking verb” is from the 1640s.[1][9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a bond.[6][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it in grammar.[2][4]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a close tie.[2][4]
  • late 13th century – English couple is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bond, rope, leash; a mooring cable.[2]
  2. A close tie.[2]
  3. (grammar) A pair of contrasted forms; a connective; a compound.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Marriage; a team of horses.[8]

Word family

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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com