Etymologically
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fontana

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Forms

fontāna f (genitive fontānae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin fontānus (“of a spring”), its feminine used as a noun,[1][2][3][4] perhaps shortened from a phrase such as ⟨fontāna aqua⟩;[1] the adjective is from fōns (“spring”).[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD records it in a sense of anatomy, apparently a part of the eye, perhaps the tear duct.[2] As “spring, fountain” it appears in the land surveyors' writings and in the Historia Augusta.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Late and Medieval Latin it was the ordinary word for a spring or well,[3][1] and it entered place names.[8] The Lombard laws condemn those who worship at springs, ad fontanas adorare.[9][8] Medieval surgeons used it for soft places of the body where cautery or bleeding was applied.[8]

It is the source of Italian fontana, Spanish fontana and French fontaine,[4][5] and English fountain (early 15th century) came through Old French fontaine.[4]

Timeline

  • 4th–5th century – The Historia Augusta and the land surveyors use it for a spring.[7][5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows Old French fontaine as fountain.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (anatomy) A part of the eye, perhaps the tear duct.[2]
  2. (Late Latin) A spring, fountain, well.[1][3][6][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin, surgery) A soft place of the body suited for cautery or bleeding.[8]

Usage notes

Fontāna with a capital was a goddess of springs.[2][6] Niermeyer also records the form fontanea.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre