galea

Forms

galea f (genitive galeae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Ancient Greek γαλέη (galéē, “weasel, marten”), first a helmet of marten's or weasel's skin; the TLL compares κυνέη (kunéē, “dog-skin cap, helmet”) and Latin galērus (“cap”).^[2][3][1][4] Varro derived it from ⟨galērus⟩, which he says many of the ancients wore.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Plautus, who also uses cassis.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a soldier's helmet.^[2] Isidore of Seville says a cassis is of metal plate, a galea of leather, and Caesar mentions the cavalry's cassides and the infantry's galeae; otherwise the two words are used of the same helmet, and Virgil has galea 34 times.^[3] Varro mentions the plumes soldiers wore on their helmets.^[3] Lewis and Short describe it as usually of leather.^[5]

Church Latin glosses it “helmet”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[3][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius, once.^[3][4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of infantry helmets.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, often.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A helmet.^[2][1][6]

Word family

• galear
• galeātus
• galeicula
• galeō
• galeola

Related words

• galērus
• cassis

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes cassis, a metal helmet, galea, a helmet of skin, properly of weasel skin, and cūdō, a helmet of no fixed shape.^[7] Medieval Latin galea, a galley, is a separate word.^[8][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill