Etymologically

manicatus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word manicatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin manus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin manus
French main
Italian mano
Latin manica
French manche
Latin manicatus
From the same root
English manumission ← manus
Latin mando ← manus
Latin manubiae ← manus
Latin manubrium ← manus
Latin manumitto ← manus

Forms

manicātus (feminine manicāta, neuter manicātum); first/second-declension adjective[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin manica (“long sleeve; handcuff”) + -ātus (“provided with”), from the noun's plural, which meant long sleeves.[1][3] De Vaan lists that plural among the regular derivatives of manus (“hand”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *man-u- and Proto-Indo-European *mon-u- (“hand”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cicero,[5] who in the second speech against Catiline mentions tunics with long sleeves.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Columella uses it of sleeved garments of skin,[2][3] and Curtius of sleeved tunics.[6] Georges gives Ancient Greek χειριδωτός (kheiridōtós) as its counterpart.[3] Ecclesiastical Latin also used it in the sense of manicae “handcuffs”: fettered, bound.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions tunics with long sleeves.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of sleeved garments of skin.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius uses it of tunics.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of garments) Having long sleeves.[1][2]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Fettered, bound.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Manicatus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/manicatus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·