Etymologically
Log in

manica

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 06:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈma.nɪ.ka][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈmaː.ni.ka][1]

Forms

manica f (genitive manicae); first declension[1] Mostly in the plural, manicae.[2][3] Jerome has the late spelling manicha.[4]

Etymology

It is from Latin manus (“hand”) + -icus,[2][1] the feminine of an adjective used as a noun, like pedica (“fetter”).[1][5] De Vaan counts it among the regular derivatives of the stem *manu- “hand”.[6] Varro already derived it from ⟨manus⟩.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan's first author is Plautus,[6] who uses the plural for handcuffs: in the Asinaria hands are held fast by manicae.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first meaning was handcuffs, manacles,[2] and Lucilius uses it figuratively of a mind caught laqueīs, manicīs, pedicīs, “in snares, manacles and fetters”.[2] Lucan has it of grappling irons for seizing ships.[2][3] It also named coverings for the hands and forearms: the long sleeves of a tunic reaching over the hand,[2][4] which, in Tacitus' Germania, the women there do not wear, leaving their arms bare;[2] a piece of armour for the sword arm;[2] and a band or perhaps a fingerless glove against cold and scratches, as in Columella and Pliny the Younger.[2][3] Isidore of Seville notes both senses, bonds for catching the hands and the sleeves of tunics.[5]

In Medieval Latin it also meant the hilt of a weapon, an armlet or bracelet, and the aisle or transept of a church.[7] English manacle comes, through Old French, from the diminutive manicula.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for handcuffs.[2][9]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it figuratively.[2][9]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it for the long sleeves of a tunic.[2][9]
  • 39–65 AD – Lucan uses it for grappling irons.[2][9]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville defines it as bonds for the hands.[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (usually plural) Handcuffs, manacles.[2][3]
  2. (nautical) Grappling irons.[2][3]
  3. A long sleeve reaching over the hand.[2][4][3]
  4. A piece of armour protecting the sword arm.[2]
  5. A protective band for the hand, perhaps a fingerless glove.[2][3]
  6. (Medieval Latin) The hilt of a weapon.[7]
  7. (Medieval Latin) An armlet, bracelet.[7]
  8. (Medieval Latin) An aisle or transept.[7]

Word family

  • manuleātus
  • manulea
  • manuleus
  • manicula
  • pedica
  • English manacle

Usage notes

Döderlein distinguishes the words for bonds: vincula are bonds of any kind, catēnae chains, compedēs fetters for hands or feet, pedicae irons for the feet and manicae irons for the hands.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper