filtrum

Forms

filtrum n (genitive filtrī); second declension^[1] Medieval spellings include feltrum, philtrum, piltrum, viltrum and feutrum.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a Medieval Latin word of Germanic origin, from Proto-West Germanic *felt (“felt”), with the Latin suffix -trum.^[1][4] The DMLBS gives the Germanic form as *filtir and Etymonline as *filtiz, which it traces to Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike, drive”).^[4][5]

Cognate with Old English felt and Old High German filz.^[4][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in glossaries, where it renders cento, a cloth of patches,^[6] and in the law code of the Bavarians, meaning felt.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin it meant felt and things made of it: a felt cushion or mattress, a horse-cloth, a tent, and a felt pad on which a horseman rested his lance.^[2][8] Ekkehard IV of St Gall mentions breastplates of felt, and John of Plano Carpini mentions the felt tents of the Tartars.^[8] English records of 1203 have a felt hat, capellum feutri.^[4]

Felt was used to strain liquids,^[5] and the word came to mean a filter,^[2][8] the sense of New Latin.^[1] The Romance words for felt come from it: French feutre, Italian feltro, Spanish fieltro;^[1] the learned French filtre gave Italian filtro,^[9] and English filter (early 15th century) first meant a piece of felt through which liquid was strained.^[5]

Timeline

• Early Middle Ages – The Bavarian law code uses the form feltrum.^[7]
• 1203 – An English court record mentions a felt hat.^[4]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as filter.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) Felt; a piece of felt.^[2][8][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A felt cushion or mattress.^[2]
3. (Medieval Latin) A felt horse-cloth; a felt tent.^[2][8]
4. (Medieval Latin) A felt pad on which a lance was rested.^[2][8]
5. (Medieval Latin, New Latin) A filter, a straining cloth.^[2][8][1]

Word family

• filtreus

Related words

• English felt
• English filter

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 Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Liber exquisiti xenii: Lexikon frühmittelalterlicher Rechtswörter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier