Etymologically
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faber

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfa.bɛr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfaː.ber][1]

Forms

faber m (genitive fabrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *fafros and, doubtfully, Proto-Indo-European *dʰHbʰ-ro- (“craftsman”); the closest cognate is Old Armenian դարբին (darbin, “smith”).[2][3] He and the Thesaurus also compare Baltic and Slavic words such as Lithuanian dabà (“nature, character”), and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (gadaban, “to happen, fit”), but their link with it is unclear.[2][4] A Paelignian ⟨faber⟩ is probably borrowed from Latin.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[2] whose Menaechmi has a man wondering whether to fetch a doctor or a craftsman.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a craftsman or artisan, especially a metal worker or smith (Plautus' smith called to take off the fetters) and a builder or carpenter.[3][5] An adjective or genitive names the craft, as fabri ferrarii “ironsmiths” in Plautus.[3] The fabri formed a century in the Servian census, which Cicero says the censors' records called centuria fabrum, and later a unit attached to the army or fleet under a praefectus fabrum.[3][5] Döderlein contrasts fabri, workmen whose labour needs bodily strength such as carpenters and smiths, with opifices, who need mechanical skill.[6]

From it came the adjective faber “skilful”, as Ovid's Daedalus “famous for his skill in the craftsman's art”.[3][5] In medieval texts it is especially the blacksmith.[7] Church Latin glosses it “maker, artificer, carpenter”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of craftsmen, smiths and builders.[3][2][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of the century of the fabri.[3][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses the adjective of Daedalus' craft.[3][9]
  • Middle Ages – Especially of a blacksmith.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A craftsman, artisan, workman.[3][5][1]
  2. A metal worker, smith; a builder, carpenter.[3][5][1][7]
  3. A member of the century or unit of military engineers;[3][5] praefectus fabrum, their commander.[3][5]

Adjective

  1. Of craftsmen, skilful; skilfully made.[3][5][1]

Word family

  • fabrica
  • fabrīlis
  • malefaber
  • affaber
  • fabrēfaciō
  • fabrefio

Usage notes

The genitive plural is usually fabrum;[5][3] Cicero defends it as the form of the censors' records.[5][3] A separate faber names a sea fish, the dory; the OLD thinks it is perhaps a special use of this word.[3][5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de