fibula

Forms

fībula f (genitive fībulae); first declension^[1] The contracted form fibla occurs later.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin fīgō (“to fix, fasten”) + -bula.^[4][1][5] De Vaan derives it through ⟨*fīwibula⟩ from ⟨*fīu̯e-dhla⟩, built on the old present fīvō, which keeps the regular outcome of ⟨*gw⟩ between vowels.^[6][1] That verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dheigw-e/o- or Proto-Indo-European *dhiHgw-e/o-, and de Vaan compares Lithuanian díegti (“to plant, sting”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Cato,^[6][5] who lists six levers and twelve fībulae.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its first use is mechanical, a bolt, peg or pin holding beams in place.^[4] From Varro on it is a pin, clasp or brooch fastening clothing, often ornamental, and also a clasp for the hair.^[4][2] In medicine it is a pin drawing together the lips of a wound, which Celsus says the Greeks call ankteres, a pin through the prepuce to prevent intercourse, and an instrument for pricking the skin.^[4][1] Wiktionary also gives a transferred sense, a bond or connection.^[1] Contracted fibla occurs in Apicius and in inscriptions.^[2] English borrowed it in the 1670s for a clasp or brooch.^[7] Since 1706 it has also named the smaller bone of the lower leg, a Latin rendering of a Greek word for a clasp.^[7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of bolts in a machine.^[4][6][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro of a clasp.^[4]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus of surgical pins.^[4]
• 1670s – English fibula, a clasp or brooch.^[7]
• 1706 – English fibula, the bone of the lower leg.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bolt, peg or pin holding beams in place.^[4]
2. A pin, clasp, brooch, buckle, often ornamental; a clasp for the hair.^[4][2][1][8]
3. (medicine) A pin for drawing together the edges of a wound; a pin through the prepuce; an instrument for pricking the skin.^[4][1]
4. (figurative) A bond, connection.^[1]

Word family

• confibula
• fībulō
• suffībulum
• fībulātōrius

Related words

• fīgō
• English fibula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson