creta

Forms

crēta f (genitive crētae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] It was once explained as ⟨terra crēta⟩ “sifted earth”, from cernō, which de Vaan finds phonetically possible but semantically weak.^[4] Lewis and Short and Köbler take it from Crēta “Crete”, as “Cretan earth”.^[4][5][6] De Vaan prefers Pedersen's comparison with Old Irish cré (“clay”) and Welsh pridd (“mud, clay”), from a stem *kʷreh₁-i-et-, of unknown root.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,^[4] who mentions chalk used to clean clothes.^[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

It was a fine, usually white clay, clayey soil, and clay or chalk used for bricks and pottery, for whitening, for cleaning clothes, as a cosmetic and for sealing.^[2][5][7] In the circus the chalk line marked the finish of a race.^[2]

In medieval British Latin it was chalk, a piece of chalk for writing, gypsum and marl.^[8] It survives in Italian creta and Spanish greda, and French craie gave English crayon in the 1640s.^[1][3] It was borrowed into Germanic, giving German Kreide.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus mentions chalk for cleaning clothes.^[5][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of raw clay mixed with lime.^[2][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of the finish line in the circus.^[2][6]
• 1640s – English crayon is recorded, from French craie.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fine white clay; clayey soil.^[2]
2. chalk; potter's clay.^[2][1]
3. The chalk line at the finish of a race.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A piece of chalk; gypsum; marl.^[8]

Word family

• crētāceus
• crētārius
• crētātus
• crēteus
• crētifodīna
• crētōsus
• crētula
• crētulentum
• incrētō

Related words

• English crayon
• English cretaceous

Usage notes

The proper noun Crēta, a loan from Greek, is the island of Crete.^[2][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b 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