holosericus

Forms

holosēricus (feminine holosērica, neuter holosēricum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὁλοσηρικός (holosērikós, “all of silk”),^[1][2][3] formed from ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) and σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), the adjective of Σήρ (Sḗr), the name of the Seres.^[3]

Isidore of Seville explained it as “wholly silken”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first record is the Edict of Diocletian on prices,^[4] dated 301 AD,^[3], in a list of garments.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It describes garments and cloth made entirely of silk.^[2][4] The Historia Augusta uses it of silk garments,^[2][4] and it also appears in Symmachus and the Theodosian Code.^[4][2] In Christian texts it describes church hangings, cloaks and other silk furnishings, the Peregrinatio Aetheriae among them.^[4] Augustine has a collateral form holosēricātus.^[2]

In Medieval Latin the neuter plural and the feminine singular holoserica were used as nouns for silk garments.^[5] Manuscripts often spell it olosiricus or holosiricus.^[4]

Timeline

• 301 AD – The Edict of Diocletian on prices has it.^[4][3]
• 4th–5th century AD – The Historia Augusta uses it of silk garments.^[2][3]
• c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus has it in his letters.^[4][3]
• 438 AD – The Theodosian Code has it.^[2][4][3]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains it as wholly silken.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made entirely of silk, all-silk.^[2][1][4]

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin, neuter plural and feminine singular) Silk garments.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill