gypsum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡyp.sũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈd͡ʒip.sum]^[1]

Forms

gypsum n (genitive gypsī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek γύψος (gúpsos, “chalk, gypsum”).^[2][1][3] Wiktionary regards the Greek word as Pre-Greek, while Etymonline reports Klein's view that it is perhaps Semitic.^[1][4] Isidore of Seville notes that it is a Greek name.^[5] A masculine gypsus is also found.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato the Elder mentions it in his treatise on agriculture.^[7][8] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.^[9]

Semantic evolution

It was gypsum or the plaster made from it, plaster of Paris, in Cato, Vitruvius, Celsus, Columella, Seneca and Pliny.^[2][7] Juvenal uses it by metonymy of plaster busts, mocking houses full of plaster images of Chrysippus.^[8][7] Isidore of Seville says it is related to lime and is used for the figures and cornices of buildings.^[5]

Medieval Latin used it of gypsum, chalk, lime, alabaster and selenite, and of gypsum quarries.^[10][6] It survives in Italian gesso and Spanish yeso.^[1] English gypsum is recorded in the late 14th century, and gesso came from Italian in the 1590s.^[4]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato the Elder mentions it.^[7][9]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it.^[7][9]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal uses it of plaster busts.^[8][9]
• late 14th century – English gypsum is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. gypsum; plaster.^[2][1]
2. A plaster figure.^[8][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) Chalk, lime; alabaster.^[10][6]

Word family

• gypseus
• gypsō

Related words

• English gypsum
• English gesso

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c 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
7. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften