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cretatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word cretatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius
Ultimate origin
Latin crēta
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin creta
French craie
Latin cretatus
From the same root
French crayon ← craie

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kreːˈtaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kreˈtaː.tus][1]

Forms

crētātus (feminine crētāta, neuter crētātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin crēta (“chalk, white clay”) + -ātus.[2][1][3] The origin of crēta is uncertain: de Vaan prefers a connection with Celtic words for “mud, clay” to the old explanation as “sifted” earth from cernō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucilius, of a whitened ox led to the Capitol for sacrifice.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of bands whitened with chalk, in a letter to Atticus,[3][6] Pliny the Elder of feet marked with chalk,[6] and Juvenal, echoing Lucilius, of a whitened bull led to the Capitol.[3][6] Of a woman it means powdered, in Martial.[2][6]

Persius applies it to Ambition, meaning the candidates for office in their whitened togas.[2][6]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of a whitened sacrificial ox.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of chalk-whitened bands.[3][6]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of candidates dressed in white.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of feet marked with chalk.[6]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a powdered woman.[2][6]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of a whitened bull for sacrifice.[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Whitened with chalk or pipeclay; marked with chalk.[2][6]
  2. (of a woman) Powdered.[2][6]
  3. (of candidates for office) Dressed in whitened garments.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Cretatus.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cretatus. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·