diasprum

Forms

diasprum n (genitive diasprī); second declension^[1] Also spelled diasperum and deasperum.^[2] The DMLBS heads it as the adjective diasprus, also used as a feminine or neuter noun.^[3]

Etymology

The word for the fabric is probably borrowed from Byzantine Greek δίασπρος (díaspros, “pure white”), which the DMLBS gives as the source of the adjective diasprus.^[3][4] Etymonline also traces it to the Medieval Greek word, explained as “thoroughly white” or “white mixed with other colours”, but marks the step as uncertain.^[5] Köbler likewise derives it through Medieval Greek, its parts being Ancient Greek διά (diá, “through”) and a word for white.^[2]

For the sense “jasper” the Polish medieval Latin dictionary refers the word to iaspis.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is from 1204, when an English document mentions a tunic “of white diasprum”, a white silk fabric.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In 13th- and 14th-century English records it is a precious fabric for church vestments: a cope (1245), the lining of a chasuble (1250), an alb (1260), a tunic and dalmatic of red diasprum (1303) and an altar cloth (1345).^[3] Köbler also glosses it as white linen and swaddling cloth.^[2] Later it meant a fabric woven with a small repeated pattern, and in 1553 tablecloths are called diaprae, “diaper table clothes”.^[3] The word passed into Middle High German as dīasper, a fine woollen cloth,^[2] and into English as diaper in the mid-14th century, through Old French.^[5]

Niermeyer also records it as a kind of stone,^[4] and a Polish record of 1522 mentions a knife with a handle of diasprum, meaning jasper.^[1] The Italian word for jasper, diaspro, comes from it.^[6]

Timeline

• 1204 – An English record mentions a tunic of white diasprum.^[3][2]
• 1245 – A cope of white diasprum is listed in the inventory of St Paul's.^[3]
• 1303 – A tunic and dalmatic of red diasprum are recorded.^[3]
• mid-14th century – English has diaper for a patterned silk fabric.^[5]
• 1522 – A Polish record uses it for jasper.^[1]
• 1553 – Patterned tablecloths are called diaprae.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A white silk fabric.^[4][3][2]
2. (Medieval Latin) A fabric woven with a small repeated pattern, diaper.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) A kind of stone, jasper.^[4][1]

Related words

• iaspis
• English diaper

References

1. ^ a b c d e Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
4. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier