Etymologically
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cortina

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɔrˈtiː.na][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [korˈtiː.na][1]

Forms

cortīna f (genitive cortīnae); first declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3] Walde and Hofmann and Pokorny connected curvus “curved”, from a participle *kr̥-to- “bent”, but de Vaan notes that no Indo-European verb forms support a root *(s)ker- “to turn”, so the etymology is unfounded.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, whose Egyptians carry a cauldron round the circus at the games.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant a deep, rounded pot or cauldron, as Cato's and Pliny the Elder's vessels for liquids.[3][5] In particular it was the tripod of Apollo at Delphi, shaped like a cauldron, as in Virgil and Ovid.[5][6] Ennius uses it of the vault of the sky, and the poem Aetna of a water organ.[3]

Late and Medieval Latin had another cortīna, “curtain”, from cors “courtyard”.[1][7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions a cauldron carried round the circus.[3][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the vault of the sky.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of Apollo's tripod.[6][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A rounded pot, cauldron.[3]
  2. The tripod of Apollo.[5][6]
  3. The vault of the sky.[3]
  4. A water organ.[3]

Word family

  • cortīnāle
  • cortīnipotēns
  • cortinula

Usage notes

It is unrelated to Late Latin cōrtīna “curtain, hangings”, from cōrt- (see cohors) and -īna, modelled on Ancient Greek αὐλαία (aulaía, “curtain”) from αὐλή (aulḗ, “courtyard”), which Ambrose uses and which gave Spanish cortina and the Bible's cortinae of the tabernacle.[1][8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ 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