fullo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈfʊl.loː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈful.lo]^[1]

Forms

fullō m (genitive fullōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][3][4] Since /o/ does not become /u/ before /ll/, de Vaan says it must go back to *fu-, but no root fits.^[2] Wiktionary mentions Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to blow, swell”) and an Etruscan source.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus lists the fuller among the tradesmen who besiege a husband.^[3][5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a fuller, who cleaned cloth by treading it, a launderer, as in Pliny and Martial.^[3][7][8] Pliny also gives the name to a beetle with white spots, and Fullō was the title of a comic poem.^[3][5]

In medieval Latin it was a fulling mill.^[9] In Britain herba fullōnum was soapwort and terra fullōnum fuller's earth.^[10] Vulgar Latin *fullāre gave Old French fouler “to trample”, the source of English full and foil, and Old English fullere “fuller” came from the noun.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus lists it among tradesmen.^[3][6]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a beetle.^[3][6]
• late 14th century – English full “to tread cloth” is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fuller, launderer.^[3][7]
2. A kind of beetle.^[3][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) A fulling mill.^[9]

Word family

• fullōnicus
• fullōnius

Related words

• English fuller
• English full
• English foil

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
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