hosa

Forms

hosa f (genitive hosae); first declension^[1][2] Also spelled osa, ossa, hossa, husa and hoesa.^[3][2] The late antique sources write it without h.^[1]

Etymology

It is a Germanic word,^[1] from Proto-Germanic *husōn (“hose, leg covering”).^[3] Etymonline glosses the Germanic word literally “covering” and gives as its relatives Old English hosa, Old Norse hosa and German Hose (“trousers”).^[4] In British sources the DMLBS refers it to Middle English hose.^[5] Isidore of Seville explained the name from the material the first ones were made of.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Isidore of Seville lists osae among kinds of footwear,^[1] and the glossaries explain them as soldiers' footwear.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Paul the Deacon writes that the Lombards began to wear osae, over which they wore other garments when riding.^[2] In medieval Latin it was a covering for the leg, usually of leather,^[2][5] also one for a horse, and it appears in surnames.^[5] It could also mean a boot,^[2] a slipper,^[5] and, perhaps by likeness to a boot, a leather bottle or small cask for wine.^[2][5] Du Cange quotes a charter of 1034 with a man carrying the count's hosa of wine, though Carpentier suspected a scribal error there.^[6]

The Germanic word also passed into Romance, as Old French hose and huese, Old Spanish huesa and Italian uosa.^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville lists osae among footwear.^[1][3]
• 787–799 – Paul the Deacon writes that the Lombards began to wear osae.^[2][3]
• 1034 – A charter mentions a hosa of wine carried for a count.^[6]
• 1158 – The Pipe Roll lists large and small hosae among casks and barrels.^[5]
• c. 1160 – A grant asks for one pair of hose worth twelve pence a year in return for all services.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) A covering for the leg, leggings, hose, often of leather.^[2][5][3]
2. A boot.^[2]
3. A slipper, shoe.^[5]
4. A leather bottle or small cask.^[5][3]

Related words

• English hose

Usage notes

The MLW lists a second hosa as a form of huso.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre