cubile

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kʊˈbiː.ɫɛ]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kuˈbiː.le]^[1]

Forms

cubīle n (genitive cubīlis); third declension^[1] Poets often use the plural for the singular.^[2]

Etymology

It is from cubō “to lie down” with the suffix -īle.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of an animal's lair.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a bed, couch, as in Cicero, and the marriage bed.^[2] From Plautus it meant an animal's den, lair, or a bird's nest, and in Varro a base, foundation.^[2] Döderlein explains that cubīle is a natural resting place of men and animals, lectus an artificial bed for men only.^[4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant bed, couch, lair, and in the plural fornication.^[5] Medieval Latin used it for a room, a cell.^[6] It survives in Italian covile and Portuguese covil “den”.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a lair.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a bed.^[2][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a foundation.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bed, couch; the marriage bed.^[2]
2. A lair, den; a nest.^[2]
3. A base, foundation.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) A room, cell.^[6]

Related words

• cubō
• cubiculum
• lectus

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes it from lectus.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill