Etymologically
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cuneus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʊ.ne.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkuː.ne.us][1]

Forms

cuneus m (genitive cuneī); second declension[1]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain; the OLD calls it doubtful and Etymonline unknown.[2][3] It seems to have the suffix -eus, and comparisons with Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) or Proto-Indo-European *ḱuH- (“spike”) are problematic, according to Wiktionary.[1] The OLD and the TLL compare culex “gnat” and Sanskrit शूक (śū́ka, “awn, sting”).[2][4] Isidore explains the military sense as ⟨couneus⟩, a body coming together into one.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of a wedge securing something in place.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a wedge, for splitting, as in Cato and Virgil, or for fixing, as in Plautus, a plug, and in Ovid the wedges of a ship's hull.[2][7][8] In Vitruvius it meant a wedge-shaped stone, a voussoir.[2] In Livy it meant a wedge-shaped area, and in Virgil a wedge of seats in the theatre and its spectators.[2] From Caesar it meant a deep, wedge-shaped formation of troops.[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a wedge.[9] Medieval Latin used it for a coin die, a seal matrix and the corner of a building.[10] It survives in Italian conio, French coin and Spanish cuño, and Old French coing gave English coin about 1300, first “a wedge”, the die for stamping money being wedge-shaped.[1][3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a wedge.[2][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a splitting wedge.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of a troop formation.[2][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of theatre seats.[2][6]
  • c. 1300 – English coin is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A wedge; a plug.[2]
  2. (architecture) A voussoir; a strip of wall.[2]
  3. A wedge-shaped area; a block of theatre seats.[2]
  4. A wedge formation of troops.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A coin die; a seal matrix; a corner.[10]

Word family

  • cuneō
  • cuneolus
  • cuneātim
  • cuneifōrmis
  • cunīculus
  • cunnus
  • cōnus
  • English coin
  • English cuneiform

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 l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill