Etymologically
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crinis

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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

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