essedum

Forms

essedum n (genitive essedī); second declension^[1] A first-declension feminine esseda also occurs.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a Gaulish word, borrowed from Gaulish *ensedon, apparently made from the equivalents of “in” and “sit”, as the OLD and Köbler give it;^[2][4][3] Köbler links its parts to Proto-Indo-European *en (“in”) and Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).^[4] Wiktionary instead derives it from a Gaulish form with the prefix ⟨*eks-⟩ and compares Old Breton assedam.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Cicero and Caesar;^[3] Caesar describes how the Britons fought from these chariots, leaping down to fight on foot.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was a war chariot of the Gauls, Britons and Belgae,^[2][3] which the Romans took over, apparently in Cicero's time, as a light travelling carriage;^[2][3] later writers use it of any carriage.^[3] A first-declension form esseda appears in Seneca.^[2][3] Niermeyer glosses it “chariot, waggon”,^[5] and in British Medieval Latin Aldhelm uses it of the constellation of the Wain.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 50 BC – Caesar, of British war chariots.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.^[3][4]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca has the feminine esseda.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A two-wheeled war chariot of the Gauls and Britons.^[2][3][1]
2. A light travelling carriage modelled on it; any carriage.^[2][3][1]
3. (Medieval Latin, astronomy) The Wain.^[6]

Word family

• esseda
• essedārius

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b 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