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gramma

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word gramma

gramma1 letter; gram

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
end of 4th century AD, Pseudo-Apuleius
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek γράμμα
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek γράμμα
Etymology tree of gramma1
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek γράμμα
Latin gramma
From the same root · gramma1
English gram ← γράμμα
English monogram ← γράμμα

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɡram.ma][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɡram.ma][1]

Forms

gramma n (genitive grammatis); third declension[1] The genitive is also written with the Greek ending grammatos.[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word for a letter and a small weight is borrowed from Ancient Greek γράμμα (grámma, “letter, written character; a weight of 1/24 ounce”).[5][2][6][7] The Greek noun comes from the stem of γράφω (gráphō, “to draw, write”),[8] and Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *gerebʰ- (“to scratch, carve”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the herbal ascribed to Apuleius (end of the 4th century AD) it means a letter or written character.[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Priscian uses it of letters of the alphabet.[2][3] As a measure it was a small weight, equal to a scruple (1/24 of an ounce), in the late treatise on weights and in Isidore of Seville;[2][6][4] Lewis and Short give it as a weight of two obols.[9]

In Medieval Latin it kept the sense “letter” and was also used for a script, a text, a message, a word, an inscription or an epitaph, in the plural for a letter (epistle), and for grammar.[7] British writers used it for the dominical letter in the reckoning of Easter.[10] Through French gramme the Late Latin word for a small weight became the English gram.[8]

Timeline

  • end of 4th century AD – The herbal of Pseudo-Apuleius uses it for a letter or written character.[4][5]
  • 6th century AD – Priscian uses it for letters of the alphabet.[2][5]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville gives it as a weight equal to a scruple.[2][6][5]
  • 1797 – English adopts gram from French gramme.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A letter, written character.[2][4][7]
  2. A small unit of weight, a scruple (1/24 of an ounce).[2][6][4][9]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Writing, a text, an inscription; in the plural, a letter or epistle.[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Grammar.[7]
  5. (Medieval Latin) The dominical letter used in reckoning the date of Easter.[10]

gramma2 line

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
first half of 5th century AD, Macrobius
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek γραμμή
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek γραμμή

Forms

gramma f (genitive grammae); first declension[6][9]

Etymology

The word for a line is borrowed from Ancient Greek γραμμή (grammḗ, “line, stroke”).[9][6][7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Macrobius (first half of the 5th century AD) uses it in his commentary on the Dream of Scipio for a line in geometry.[6][9][5]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short also give it as a line in writing, a stroke of the pen.[9] In Medieval Latin it meant a line in Paschasius Radbertus' commentary on Matthew, and Gerbert's geometry explains that the Latin linea is called this in Greek.[7]

Timeline

  • first half of 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it for a line in geometry.[6][9][5]
  • 9th century – Paschasius Radbertus uses it for a line.[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geometry) A line.[6][7]
  2. A line in writing, a stroke of the pen.[9]
  3. (plural) Letters, written characters.[6]

Usage notes

The dictionaries divide the plural “letters” differently: Gaffiot files the passages of Priscian and Pseudo-Apuleius under the feminine word for a line,[6] while Georges puts them under the neuter word for a letter.[2] The MLW notes that the neuter word for a letter is sometimes declined as a feminine in Medieval Latin.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gramma.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/gramma. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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