fixura

Forms

fīxūra f (genitive fīxūrae); first declension^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin fīgō (“to drive in, fasten”) + -ūra.^[3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian (c. 160–220 AD),^[5] in the Scorpiace, for the act of driving in or piercing.^[4][2][6]

Semantic evolution

The Vulgate uses it for the mark left by something driven in: Thomas will not believe “unless I see in his hands the print of the nails” (nisi videro in manibus eius fixuram clavorum).^[3][6][4]

Medieval Latin kept the sense of fastening and piercing: fixura crucis meant the crucifixion,^[7] and the word was also used for a wound, a spider's bite, a support and an arrangement.^[7][5] In Hungarian charters it is the thrust of a lance or sword,^[8] and a charter of 1196 uses it for a row of stakes driven into the ground to hold back earth.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for the act of piercing.^[4][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it for the print of the nails in the Gospel of John.^[3][5]
• 831–846 – Agnellus speaks of the fixura crucis, the crucifixion.^[7][5]
• 1151–1158 – Hildegard of Bingen's Physica has it.^[5]
• 1196 – A charter uses it for a row of stakes.^[9]
• 1271 – A Hungarian charter uses it for a wound from a lance thrust.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of fastening or driving in; a piercing.^[3][2][6]
2. The mark left by something driven in, especially the print of the nails.^[3][2]
3. (Medieval Latin) The act of fastening to the cross, crucifixion.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) A wound; a stab or thrust with a weapon.^[7][8]
5. (Medieval Latin) The bite of a spider.^[7][5]
6. (Medieval Latin) A support; a row of stakes driven into the ground.^[7][9]

Usage notes

Medieval texts also write fixura for fissura “crack, cleft”,^[7][10][9] and the MLW records it as a spelling of fictura.^[7]

References

1. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
9. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ 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