crinis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkriː.nɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkriː.nis]^[1]

Forms

crīnis m (genitive crīnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *krisni-, from Proto-Indo-European *kris-ni-, perhaps from a root *(s)kreys- “to shake”.^[2][1] De Vaan sees a Latin stem *kris- “crest, plume, hair” in it and in crista and crispus.^[2][3] Cognate with Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌷𐍂𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ushrisjan, “to shake out”) and Old English hrīs (“brushwood”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who treats it as feminine, and Pacuvius uses it as masculine.^[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was a lock of hair, and in the plural or as a collective the hair of the head, as Accius' “golden locks lie loose”.^[3] Bereniīcēs crīnis, the lock of Berenice, was a constellation, as in Catullus.^[3] It was also used of things like hair, such as the feelers of animals.^[3]

Medieval writers also used it of a horse's mane.^[6] It survives in Italian crine, French crin and Spanish crin, usually “horsehair”, and Italian crino gave French crinoline and English crinoline in 1830.^[1][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a feminine.^[3][5]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it as a masculine.^[2][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus writes of the lock of Berenice.^[3][5]
• 1830 – English crinoline is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lock of hair.^[3]
2. (plural or collective) The hair of the head.^[3]
3. Something like hair (feelers).^[3]

Word family

• crīnālis
• crīniger
• crīnītus

Related words

• crīniō
• crīsō
• crispus
• crista
• English crinoline

Usage notes

Döderlein says that crīnis and capillus are hair in a physical sense, crīnis any growth of hair, capillus only the hair of the head as against the beard.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 j 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper