cucullus

Forms

cucullus m (genitive cucullī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Gaulish: the OLD labels it Gallic,^[2] and the TLL infers a Gaulish source from the compound bardocucullus, although it doubts that the Irish and Breton forms are native words.^[3] Wiktionary also takes it for a loan, from Gaulish or Illyrian, and compares Gaulish Cucullātus, the name of a god; alternatively it may be a reduplicated form of Proto-Indo-European *kuH-l-, from the root *(s)kewH- (“to cover”), which would make it related to cutis (“skin”).^[1] Köbler also points, with a question mark, to the root meaning to cover.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Columella, for a hood fastened to a garment.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

It means a hood or cowl,^[2][5] worn as a disguise in Juvenal,^[5] and Martial uses it for a cone of paper wrapped round goods.^[5][1] Ecclesiastical writers such as Paulinus of Nola and Jerome have the feminine cuculla,^[5] and in medieval Latin it is a cowl, especially a monk's cowl.^[6][7]

Through Old English the Late Latin cuculla gave English cowl.^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella uses it for a hood.^[5][4]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it for a paper wrapper.^[5][4]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal mentions it as a disguise.^[5][4]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses the feminine cuculla.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hood, a covering for the head.^[2][5]
2. A conical wrapper for goods.^[5][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A cowl, especially a monk's cowl.^[6][7]

Word family

• cucullātus
• cuculliō
• cuculliunculum

Related words

• bardocucullus
• English cowl

Usage notes

The OLD has a separate cucullus naming a plant, the same as strychnon, perhaps the same word.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com