Etymologically
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ferramentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɛr.raːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [fer.raˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

ferrāmentum n (genitive ferrāmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ferrum (“iron”) + -mentum.[2][1][3] De Vaan takes ferrum as a loanword from an unidentified source, possibly a Phoenician dialect, comparing the Phoenician and Syriac words for iron.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,[4][3] where a well is dug with iron tools.[5]

Semantic evolution

It is any implement or tool of iron, or shod or pointed with iron, especially farm tools such as hatchets and sickles.[2][5] In the land surveyors it is the iron base that holds the groma, and the whole surveying apparatus.[2] Köbler finds it in many medieval sources, laws, capitularies and charters.[3] Church Latin glosses it iron tool.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of digging tools.[5][4][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An iron implement or tool, especially a farm tool.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (surveying) The base holding the groma; the whole apparatus.[2]

Word family

  • ferrāmentārius

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson