Etymologically
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costa

Etymology and origin of the Latin word costa

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɔs.ta][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkɔs.ta][1]

Forms

costa f (genitive costae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It has been compared with Old Church Slavonic кость (kostĭ, “bone”), but de Vaan rejects the link: “bone” is os in Latin, and costa means “rib”, so he regards it as an isolated word without etymology.[2][3][4] Wiktionary reports that Derksen thinks the link quite possible.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it.[2][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a rib, a rib of meat, and in the plural the side, flank or back, as of someone beaten.[3][5] It was used of the ribs of a ship and, in Virgil, of the side of a cauldron.[3][5]

In medieval Latin it was also a mountain slope, a cutlet, and a wife.[7][8] It survives as Italian costa, Spanish cuesta and Romanian coastă.[1] Old French coste “rib, side” came to mean “shore” and gave English coast.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the side of a cauldron.[5][6]
  • early 14th century – English coast is recorded as “margin of the land”, through Old French coste.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A rib.[3][5]
  2. A rib (of meat).[3]
  3. The side, flank, back.[3]
  4. A rib (of a ship); a side, wall.[3][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A mountain slope; a wife.[7][8]

Word family

  • costātus
  • cōticula
  • costābilis
  • costālis

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Costa.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/costa. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·