Etymologically
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corium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔ.ri.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔː.ri.um][1]

Forms

corium n (genitive coriī or corī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *korjo-, probably from Proto-Indo-European *kor-o- (“what is torn or peeled off”), from the root *(s)ker- “to cut”, hence “bark, skin”.[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit चर्मन् (cárman, “hide, skin”) and Old Church Slavonic кора (kora, “bark”).[2][3] cortex “bark” and scortum “hide” are related.[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, where a slave says his master is covered with an elephant's hide.[2][3] Plautus also has a masculine corius.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the thick skin of an animal, its hide, and the hide stripped off and used as leather, as a slave jokes that three hides were worn out on his back.[3] By transfer it was the skin or rind of fruit, and a layer or coating of any material, such as a course of masonry in Vitruvius.[3]

Medieval writers distinguished fresh, salted, tanned and tawed hides.[6] It survives in Italian cuoio, French cuir and Spanish cuero, all “leather”.[1] Late Latin coriācea vestis “leather garment” gave English cuirass through French, excoriāre gave English excoriate, and anatomy took English corium for the inner layer of the skin in 1836.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus speaks of an elephant's hide.[3][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of animal hides.[7][5]
  • early 15th century – English excoriate is recorded.[4]
  • 1836 – English corium is recorded in anatomy.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The hide, skin (of an animal).[3]
  2. A hide, leather.[3]
  3. The rind, peel (of fruit).[3]
  4. A layer, coating; a course (of masonry).[3]

Word family

  • coriāceus
  • coriāgō
  • coriārius
  • coriolum
  • decorio
  • excoriō
  • dūricorius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.