Etymologically
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drappus

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Forms

drappus m (genitive drappī); second declension[1] Also spelled drapus and trapus; a feminine drappa also occurs.[1][2][3]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[1] One view is that it is borrowed from Gaulish *drappos (“cloth”), the form Köbler starts from, connecting it with Proto-Indo-European *drep- (“to tear”);[4] the TLL calls it a foreign word, perhaps Gaulish,[5] and Niermeyer marks it Celtic.[3] Wiktionary also gives a Gaulish *drappo (“shred”) with the same root, comparing Welsh drab (“piece, shred”).[1]

Wiktionary prefers a Germanic source, because the word appears so late: Frankish *drāpi (“fulled cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *drepaną (“to strike”).[1] It suggests that the variant ⟨trapus⟩ may come from or have been influenced by *trabu (“cloth, thread, rag”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first known use is in the Life of Caesarius of Arles, where someone asks for a piece of the saint's cloth;[5][6][1][4] the Latin Oribasius also has it.[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In Merovingian and Carolingian texts it is cloth and clothing: the formulae of Marculf list it among household goods with gold, silver and garments,[2][8] the laws of the Alamanni fine whoever seizes another by the hand or by his clothes in anger,[2][8] and the statutes of Adalhard forbid sitting on another's cloth.[8] Niermeyer also gives the senses carpet and tapestry, and material for clothing.[3] Cosmas of Prague uses it as a term of abuse, “rag”, for worthless men.[2]

It survives in Italian drappo, Old French drap and Catalan drap, and the variant in Spanish trapo and Portuguese trapo.[1] English drape and drab come from French drap.[9]

Timeline

  • mid 6th century AD – The Life of Caesarius of Arles, “cloth”.[5][6][4]
  • 720–730 – The formulae of Marculf, among household goods.[2][8][4]
  • 1110–1125 – Cosmas of Prague, “rag” of a worthless man.[2][4]
  • c. 1400 – English drape, from Old French.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A piece of cloth; cloth, fabric.[5][2][3][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A garment, clothing.[2][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A carpet, tapestry.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin, figurative) A worthless fellow.[2]
  • English drape
  • English drab

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  8. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com