dorsarium

Forms

dorsārium n (genitive dorsāriī); second declension^[1][2] Medieval spellings include ⟨dorserium⟩, ⟨dossarium⟩, ⟨dosserium⟩ and ⟨dorsorium⟩.^[3][1][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin dorsum (“back”) + -ārium.^[1][2] Niermeyer treats it as the same word as ⟨dorsale⟩,^[3] which Du Cange explains as a hanging so called because it hangs at the back of a person sitting.^[5] The DMLBS compares the Anglo-Norman and Old French words for a dosser.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest dated source is a charter of 978/1016.^[1] The MLW's first dated quotation is a charter of 1143 in which a bishop acquires fifteen purple dorsāria to adorn his principal church.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was mainly a cloth hanging: the MLW also quotes a chronicle that lists dorsāria among cloaks and tapestries bought,^[2] and an Abingdon chronicle tells of two great dossāria hung in the choir on the chief feasts, one of the ten virgins and one of the story of Job.^[4] Such hangings were used behind an altar or a bed, or laid as a carpet.^[4] In English sources it also meant the back of a vestment, as in an inventory of Christ Church of 1315 with a back embroidered with the arms of the king of England.^[4]

Things carried on or against the back took the name too: a coachman's seat or cart-saddle,^[3][1] the back-band of a cart-horse, and a pannier or basket carried on the back.^[4][1] In 1200 royal records ask for eight of them, with eight collars, for two new carts.^[4]

Timeline

• 978/1016 – A charter is its earliest dated source.^[1]
• 1143 – A bishop's charter acquires fifteen purple hangings for his church.^[2]
• 1200 – English royal records list them with collars for carts.^[4]
• 1315 – An inventory of Christ Church uses it of the back of a vestment.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A wall hanging or tapestry, especially one hung behind seats, an altar or a bed; a dossal.^[2][3][1][4]
2. (Medieval Latin) A coachman's seat, a cart-saddle.^[3][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) The back-band of a cart-horse; a pannier, a basket carried on the back.^[4][1]
4. (Medieval Latin) The back of a vestment.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
2. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
5. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre