mantum

Forms

mantum n (genitive mantī); second declension^[1] Georges also records a feminine mantus (ablative mantū), citing the appendix to Probus.^[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[1][2] Wiktionary takes it as probably borrowed from Gaulish *mantos (“trodden road”), from Proto-Celtic *mantos or *mantlos, and Proto-Indo-European *menH- (“to tread, press together; crumble”).^[1] Georges calls it a Hispanic word,^[2] and Walde refers it to mantellum.^[3] Köbler refers it to manus (“hand”) and tergeō (“to wipe”).^[4]

Isidore of Seville, the only ancient source, says the Hispani call it mantum because it covers only the hands (⟨quod manus tegat tantum⟩), being a short garment.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Isidore of Seville describes it as a short cloak worn in Hispania.^[5][6][7] Köbler dates Isidore c. 560–636 AD.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Papias copies Isidore's explanation.^[8] In Medieval Latin it was also the papal mantle and an altar cloth,^[4] and in the Czech lands the cloak in which an emperor was crowned, as well as a short cloak.^[9]

It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese manto, and English borrowed manto and mantum.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville records it as the Hispanic name of a short cloak.^[5][6][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A short cloak, said to be a Hispanic garment.^[6][2][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) The papal mantle; an altar cloth.^[4]
3. (Medieval Latin) The cloak in which an emperor is crowned.^[9]

Word family

• mantuelis

Related words

• mantellum
• mantele

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ Walde, Alois (1906), Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
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 Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences