lamella

Forms

lāmella f (genitive lāmellae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of lāmina “thin plate” with the suffix ⟨-la⟩.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Vitruvius, whom he dates c. 84–c. 25 BC.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a thin metal plate, as in Vitruvius, and Seneca has paucae lāmellae argentī “a few small silver coins”.^[2][5][6]

The TLL traces Old French lemele “blade” and northern Italian dialect forms to it.^[7] Old French la lemelle, misdivided as l'alemelle, is probably the source of French omelette and English omelet, from the thin, flat shape.^[3] English took lamella in the 1670s, “a thin plate or scale”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it.^[4][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of coins.^[6][4]
• 1670s – English lamella is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thin metal plate.^[2]
2. A small coin.^[5]

Word family

• lāmellula

Related words

• lāmina
• English lamella
• English omelet

References

1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften