Etymologically
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framea

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Forms

framea f (genitive frameae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is a Germanic word,[2][3][4] borrowed from Proto-Germanic *framjō (“lance, spear, javelin”) in the reconstruction Wiktionary calls the most accepted, although the exact form is uncertain.[1] Tacitus says that the Germans called their spears so in their own language.[3][4] Wiktionary relates it perhaps to *frankô (“javelin”) and also mentions *þramjō, compared with Old Norse þremjar (“swords”), and *hramjō (“pole, perch”).[1] Köbler calls its etymology unexplained.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Tacitus' Germania and in Juvenal.[5][3] Tacitus describes the framea as a spear with a short, narrow iron head, so sharp and handy that the same weapon served for fighting at close quarters or at a distance.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In Tacitus it is the spear of the Germans,[2][4] which a young man received with a shield in the assembly,[4] and Gellius lists it among the names of missile weapons.[4][3] Juvenal uses it more generally for a spear, in an oath per Mārtis frameam, “by the spear of Mars”.[4][3] In Late and Christian Latin it means a sword: Augustine and the Vulgate psalms use it so,[3][6] and Isidore equates it with rhomphaea.[6][7] Gregory of Tours still uses it in his histories.[4] Medieval Latin used it chiefly for a sword, sometimes for a lance or any weapon,[8][9] and in Britain also for a halberd and, figuratively, for the sword of the spirit or of vengeance.[10][9] It was taken over learnedly as English framea and French framée.[1]

Timeline

  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus describes the framea of the Germans.[4][5]
  • c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of the spear of Mars.[4][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius lists it among missile weapons.[4][5]
  • 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of a sword.[3][6][5]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it in his history of the Franks.[4][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore explains it as a rhomphaea.[6][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A spear used by the ancient Germans.[2][3][4]
  2. A spear in general.[4][11]
  3. (Late Latin) A sword.[3][6][12]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A sword; a lance; a halberd.[8][9][10]

Usage notes

The MLW records a rare medieval homograph framea, a beam (in the plural, a scaffold), which it compares with English frame.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  10. ^ a b 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
  11. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  12. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson