corona

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kɔˈroː.na]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koˈrɔː.na]^[1]

Forms

corōna f (genitive corōnae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē, “anything curved or hooked; a kind of crown”).^[2][3][1] Watkins and Wiktionary derive the Greek word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”), while Beekes takes the sense “crown” to come from the identical Greek word for “crow”, used of all kinds of hooked objects.^[4][1] The TLL compares Greek words for a wreath in Stesichorus and Simonides.^[3] Festus and Isidore of Seville explained it from chorus, as the dancers circling an altar.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from the Twelve Tables,^[5] which Pliny the Elder quotes on crowns won in contests.^[6] In Plautus a character puts a garland on his head to pretend to be drunk.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its main sense was a wreath or garland, of flowers or precious metal, awarded for valour in war or victory in games, worn at banquets, placed on statues of gods and on the dead, and worn by a king as an emblem of rule.^[2][6] Prisoners of war were sold sub corona “under the wreath”, as they wore one at auction.^[2][7] It was the name of two constellations, the Northern and Southern Crown.^[2][8]

From the ring shape it named a halo round the sun or moon, the coronet of a hoof, a ring of hills, a cornice in architecture, and a circle of bystanders or of besieging troops.^[2] In medieval Latin it meant the Crown as a principle of public law, the clerical tonsure, a measure for grapes, and a hanging chandelier.^[9] It gave French couronne and English crown,^[1][4] and the medieval office of keeper of the pleas of the crown gave English coroner.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables mention crowns.^[5][6]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for a festive garland.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero names the constellation Corona.^[2][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar sells captives sub corona.^[2][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it for a halo round the sun.^[2][5]
• Middle Ages – It means the Crown, the tonsure and a chandelier.^[9]
• early 12th century – Through Anglo-French it gives English crown.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wreath, garland, crown (as a prize, at feasts, for gods and the dead).^[2][6]
2. A crown as an emblem of royalty.^[2]
3. sub corona vendere: to sell (captives) as slaves.^[2]
4. Corona: the Northern or Southern Crown (constellations).^[2]
5. A halo round the sun or moon.^[2]
6. A ring-shaped feature: the coronet of a hoof, a ring of hills, a cornice.^[2]
7. A circle of bystanders; a ring of troops.^[2][7]
8. (Medieval Latin) The Crown, monarchy; the tonsure; a chandelier.^[9][10]

Word family

• corolla
• corōnālis
• corōnāmentum
• corōnārius
• corōniola
• corōnō
• corōnula

Related words

• corōnātus
• English crown
• English coroner
• English corona
• English corolla

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson