Etymologically
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ferratus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [fɛrˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ferˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

ferrātus (feminine ferrāta, neuter ferrātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

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

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus;[4] the OLD's first quotation is Ennius' line on Discord breaking the iron-bound doorposts and gates of war, which Virgil imitated.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It means bound or covered with iron, as Lucretius' and Virgil's iron-rimmed wheels, and tipped or studded with iron, as Virgil's iron-pointed stakes and Livy's iron-tipped spear.[2][5] Of soldiers it is clad in armour: Horace has Claudius overthrow the armoured columns of the barbarians; jokingly it is chained.[2] Seneca uses it of water impregnated with iron.[2] Tacitus has ferrātī as a noun, armoured soldiers.[6][5] Church Latin glosses it ironclad, pointed, sharp.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.[4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of iron-bound doors.[2][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of iron-rimmed wheels.[5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of armoured columns.[2]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of iron-bearing water.[2]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of armoured soldiers.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Bound or covered with iron; tipped or studded with iron.[2][5][1][7]
  2. Clad in armour, armoured; jokingly, chained.[2]
  3. (of water) Impregnated with iron, chalybeate.[2]
  4. ferrātī (plural, as a noun): armoured soldiers.[6][5]

Word family

  • praeferrātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson