mantellum

Forms

mantellum n^[1] Also mantēlum.^[2]

Etymology

The OLD compares it with mantica “knapsack”, and Köbler connects it with ⟨mantum⟩ “cloak”.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gaffiot cites Plautus' Captivi, figuratively of a veil or cover.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It was a cloak or mantle, and figuratively, as in Plautus, a cover, a veil, and Lucilius and Festus have mantēlum “a towel”.^[3][2]

In British Medieval Latin it was a mantle, a cloak, of various materials and colours, mantellum ferreum was armour, and mantellum vertere was to turn one's coat, to change sides.^[5] It was borrowed early into Old English as mentel, the source of English mantle, and into Old High German mantal, and Italian mantello continues it.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it figuratively.^[2][4]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[4]
• 1195 – a royal charter in England uses it of a cloak.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cloak, mantle.^[3][5]
2. (figurative) A cover, veil.^[2]
3. A towel.^[2]

Related words

• mantica
• English mantle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
3. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c 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. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com